3 ms·
Once again, no mention of the real reason we use Uranium: Thorium is not fissile. It only becomes fissile through transmutation to Uranium 233 by neutron acti
by neutronicus 16y ago
Once again, no mention of the real reason we use Uranium:
Thorium is not fissile. It only becomes fissile through transmutation to Uranium 233 by neutron activation. The only place with high enough neutron fluxes to transmute a significant amount of Thorium? A nuclear reactor.
So, one needs a working nuclear reactor (as well as a reprocessing plant to extract the U-233!) to produce fuel from Thorium.
Basically two whole levels of pain in the ass that don't exist in the Uranium cycle, for a system that, no matter what its advocates say, is not that different from a safety perspective.