Why Is Thorium, A Potentially Safer Alternative To Uranium…
The pioneering research & development in the nuclear domain was performed with the purpose of creating nuclear weapons. Since the fission of thorium doesn't produce plutonium (one of the elements used in nuclear weapons) as a byproduct, uranium, the dual-purpose nuclear fuel took precedence. However, nations have finally …
Fossil Fuels Still Rule But Don't Worry -- We Have Plenty Of Uranium
Energy minerals focus on ores of uranium, thorium and helium-3 as materials useful for fission and fusion reactors. But rare earth elements (REE) and other energy-important or high-tech materials ...
Joint Guidance for the Cleanup and Reclamation of …
2.0 State of New Mexico Radiation Cleanup Criteria. The goal of mitigating mine site radiation levels will be reclamation to radiation levels that are compliant with 40 CFR …
Radiation Regulations and Laws | US EPA
This regulation sets standards for the protection of the public health, safety and the environment from radiological and non-radiological hazards associated with …
16 Big Thorium Reactor Pros and Cons
The benefit of a thorium reactor is that just one ton of this element can produce as much energy as an estimated 200 tons of uranium. Yet, when thorium is compared to coal-fired power plants, the difference is much greater. One ton of thorium can create the same amount of energy as 3.5 million tons of coal.
What is Uranium-Thorium Dating?
What is Uranium-Thorium Dating? U-Th dating is an analytical method used to date calcium carbonate (CaCO 3) bearing samples, including cave deposits / speleothems, CaCO 3 rock, corals, shells and (in some cases) bones. Some of these samples work better than the others for this dating methodology due to the occurrence of uranium and …
Sequential extraction procedure for determination of uranium, thorium …
A sequential extraction technique was developed and tested for common naturally-occurring radionuclides. This technique allows the extraction and purification of uranium, thorium, radium, lead, and polonium radionuclides from the same sample. Environmental materials such as water, soil, and biological samples can be analyzed for those radionuclides …
EPA's REGULATORY RESPONSIBILITIES for URANIUM …
Energy (DOE) for their oversight of uranium and thorium extraction facility licensing, operations, sites, and wastes ... Hazardous waste permitting in accordance with the (regulations in 40 CFR Parts 260-265) generally applies only to non-radioactive material associated with the site operations
Are Thorium Reactors the Future of Nuclear Energy?
Its South Falcon Point uranium and thorium project is located in the Athabasca Basin in Saskatchewan. Who is building thorium reactors? As mentioned, Thor Energy was the first to begin energy ...
Bill To Grant Wyoming More Control Of Rare Earth
Bill To Grant Wyoming More Control Of Rare Earth Permitting Moves Out Of Committee. Thorium and uranium are byproducts of the rare earth mining process, and that requires another license which takes three years and costs $3 million. Wyoming is hoping to take control of the licensing process and cut the time and cost in half.
Uranium and thorium
Uranium and thorium are common elements in the Earth's crust. They can be found in low concentrations almost everywhere in rock, soil, rivers, and oceans. The Australian continent, through its geological heritage, is endowed with well-above-average concentrations of the uranium and thorium. Granites can have much higher levels of …
Thorium Reactors: An Improvement Over Uranium?
Thorium and uranium reactors use different fission reactions, which means the reactions have different products and properties. Uranium reactors use uranium-235 as their fissile fuel, as well as the plutonium-239 that is produced from the uranium-238 that is also present in the fuel, and this reaction produces enough neutrons to perpetuate the ...
How long will our supplies of uranium and thorium last?
How much more uranium and/or thorium does that make available? For instance for Thorium, the Atomic Energy Commission has studied the available resources in 1969 (section 4.2, table 4.2). Of this thorium, we've hardly used anything since those days. The report raises the question how much thorium is recoverable at a price of 500$/kg in …
Evidence and uncertainty for uranium and thorium …
1. Introduction. Uranium and thorium are the only naturally-occurring actinides in the Periodic Table of the Elements, and share many similar properties such as: the order of magnitude of the half-lives of their most abundant isotopes (238 U and 232 Th), their primary modes of radioactive decay, and the high melting points and insolubility in …
Indian Thorium Breeding Technology
Thorium is more abundant in the earth's core than uranium, and all the thorium that is mined may be used in a reactor, whereas less than 1% of natural uranium may be used. ... or plutonium. [8] The higher thermal conductivity of ThO 2, the material used in reactors, is higher than that of UO 2, permitting the use of lower fuel temperatures and ...
Regulation of Radioactive Materials | NRC.gov
Byproduct material (material that is made radioactive in a reactor, and residue from the milling of uranium and thorium) The NRC regulates the use of these radioactive materials through Title 10, Part 20, of the Code of Federal Regulations ( 10 CFR Part 20 ), "Standards for Protection Against Radiation," which spells out the agency's ...
Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM) Disposal
NORM primarily contains uranium, thorium and in some cases potassium. Even though uranium and thorium occur naturally, by statute and rule they are defined …
Licensing | NRC.gov
Licensing. Through the licensing process, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) authorizes an applicant to conduct any or all of the following …
A comparison of analytical methods for determining uranium and thorium
The activity concentrations of uranium and thorium isotopes in the separated sources were determined by alpha spectrometry with PIPS semiconductor detectors of 600 mm 2 active area, housed in Alpha Analyst model 7200-08. The radiotracers used for the determination of chemical yield in uranium and thorium separations were 236 U and …
Can thorium compete with uranium as a nuclear fuel?
Thorium has many qualities but also many disadvantages: difficult to handle, fertile and non-fissile metal, higher risks. But it produces less waste than plutonium or uranium and remains an attractive option for the future of nuclear energy.
Frontiers | An overview of thorium as a prospective natural …
There are several advantages of using thorium as a nuclear fuel compared to uranium. Thorium oxide has a higher melting point (3300ᴼC) compared to uranium oxide (2865ᴼC), and thorium oxide has better thermal conductivity, a lower rate of fission gas release (despite higher fission gas production per fission event), good radiation …
Regulation of Radioactive Materials | NRC.gov
The NRC is the Federal agency responsible protecting the health and safety of the public and the environment by licensing and regulating the civilian uses of the following radioactive materials: Source material (uranium …
TENORM: Rare Earths Mining Wastes | US EPA
Processing rare earth minerals involves the separation and removal of uranium and thorium, which results in TENORM wastes. For detailed information and publications about rare earths, including statistics about domestic and international mining and use, see the U.S. Geological Survey Rare Earth Minerals Information page.
Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM) Disposal
NORM primarily contains uranium, thorium and in some cases potassium. Even though uranium and thorium occur naturally, by statute and rule they are defined as source material. Source material is any combination of uranium or thorium and ores that contain greater than 0.05 weight percent of uranium, thorium, or any combination thereof.
Thorium fuel cycle — Potential benefits and challenges
• Thorium is 3 to 4 times more abundant than uranium, widely distributed in nature as an easily exploitable resource in many countries and has not been exploited commercially so far. Thorium fuels, therefore, complement uranium fuels and ensure long term sustainability of nuclear power.
What's the Difference Between Thorium and Uranium …
In the three-phase plan for efficiently using thorium, a uranium-fueled reactor consumes U-235 and as it fissions it generate neutrons that are absorbed in U-238 to create Pu-239. The Pu-239 is ...
How much uranium can I legally own?
Any uranium and thorium above the total of 5 kg requires permitting. Is owning uranium 235 illegal? Yes, owning uranium 235 without a special license is illegal. Individuals need to be specially licensed to possess quantities of Uranium and/or Plutonium greater than 1 gram. ... It is legal to own thorium in certain quantities as long as it is ...
Abundant thorium as an alternative nuclear fuel
Thorium-232 performs this function by transmuting into uranium-233 permitting reactor energy by fission. As do other fertile materials, thorium-232 requires a source of neutrons for the transmutation to take place, from a fissile material (such as uranium-235 or plutonium 239) or from an external source such as spallation neutrons.
EPA's REGULATORY RESPONSIBILITIES for URANIUM …
Water and radionuclide cleanups are a significant factor. U.S. Department of Energy (2000) study of 21 mines— reclamation costs ranged from $0.18/kg uranium produced to …
PART 40—DOMESTIC LICENSING OF SOURCE MATERIAL
Source Material means: (1) Uranium or thorium, or any combination thereof, in any physical or chemical form or (2) ores which contain by weight one …