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Is uranium really needed to make nuclear energy? I was under the impression that you could use thorium. I only got that question right because the other options
by qntty 11y ago
Is uranium really needed to make nuclear energy? I was under the impression that you could use thorium. I only got that question right because the other options didn't make sense.
- dagw 11y agoThorium reactors are also Uranium reactors. The difference is that instead of powering the reactor directly with fission of Uranium you feed the reactor with Thorium which is then transmuted into Uranium in the reactor and then nuclear fission of that uranium is used to generate power.
- qntty 11y agoI think I would still tend to say that you don't need uranium in that you don't need to start with it. I guess it's a matter of interpretation.
- JoeAltmaier 11y agoIts complex. Thorium has a long chain of transmuted states called the 'Thorium Cascade', during which it is twice Radium, twice Polonium, twice Lead and even twice Thorium (232 and 228)! The form of Uranium it passes thru is called 'synthetic' and is not the kind that makes bombs. All steps in the cascade generate power.
- Symmetry 11y agoWell, it's easy to make nuclear energy or nuclear weapons with plutonium, for instance. But we can only create plutonium using nuclear reactors. In terms of naturally occurring substances it's much easier to use Uranium to bootstrap yourself but with enough effort you could use others.