Critical assessment of thorium reactor technology

Thorium-based fuels for nuclear reactors are being considered for use with current and future designs in both large and small-scale energy production. Thorium-232 is as abundant on Earth as lead, far more common than all isotopes of uranium, leading to its greatly reduced cost. Thorium itself offers a significantly greater neutron absorption cross-section than uranium at thermal energies, resulting in greater efficiency and smaller geometries. Certain thorium-based fuels can also significantly reduce proliferation by denaturing the thorium fuel cycle product U-233 (which is cause for proliferation concern) with U-236 and U-238. Several countries, including the USA, China, and India, are developing new conceptual designs which focus on the advantages offered by thorium. Thorium reactor technology today, as well as its practicality in the near-future, was surveyed to determine its potential for a major role in the nuclear power industry. Factors considered were economics, efficiency, waste, and proliferation. It is recommended that thorium-based fuels be further integrated in future reactor designs to take advantage of its numerous benefits in these areas.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Nuclear Science and Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2012

Author dc:creator

• Drenkhahn, Robert (Robert A.)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Dennis Whyte.

• Nuclear Science and Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/77064

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/77064