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DLHill
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In a reactor using Th232 as a fertile material to breed fissile U233, what is the amount of energy released per kg Th232 compared to a reactor using about 20% enriched uranium?
The rate of energy release depends on two things: 1) energy per fission, and 2) fission rate.DLHill said:In a reactor using Th232 as a fertile material to breed fissile U233, what is the amount of energy released per kg Th232 compared to a reactor using about 20% enriched uranium?
Isotope U-233 U-235 Pu-239
Energy per fission (MeV) 197.9 202.5 207.1
Energy in anti-neutrinos (MeV) 6.9 8.8 7.1
Recoverable energy (MeV) 191.0 193.7 200.0
Thorium, a radioactive element, has a higher energy density of 24 MJ/kg compared to uranium's energy density of 18.6 MJ/kg. This means that thorium contains more energy per unit mass, making it a potentially more efficient fuel source.
Uranium is more abundant than thorium, with an estimated 2.8 million tons of uranium in the Earth's crust compared to only 120,000 tons of thorium. However, thorium is more evenly distributed and easier to extract, making it a more accessible resource.
Thorium is generally considered to be a safer alternative to uranium as a nuclear fuel. It produces less long-lived radioactive waste, has a lower risk of nuclear proliferation, and is more resistant to nuclear meltdowns. However, thorium reactors are still in the development stage and have not been widely used yet.
While thorium has been proposed as a potential alternative to uranium in nuclear power generation, there are still technical challenges that need to be addressed. It has a different decay chain and requires different reactor designs, making it more difficult to integrate into existing nuclear power plants.
One potential environmental benefit of thorium is that it produces less long-lived radioactive waste compared to uranium. Additionally, thorium is more abundant and easier to access, which could reduce the environmental impact of mining and processing radioactive materials. However, further research and development is needed to fully understand the environmental impacts of using thorium as a fuel source.