Clean, abundant and cheap energy. Since the dawn of the Industrial Age, humans have sought a near unlimited source of heat, light, and above all, kinetic and electrical energy.

Fossil fuels belch harmful gases into our atmosphere, Renewable is expensive, and a plague of suspicions rain down on those seeking uranium.

But another nuclear fuel, known as Thorium, has revealed itself as a new flawless, source of energy. No meltdowns. No bombs. No waste. And there is in excess of 540000000 tons of it lying on the surface of our earth. Thorium brings all the benefits of a nuclear reactor, but none of the drawbacks.

Uranium is running dry. The world needs a new fuel for the hundreds of power plants, and the others to come. Thorium is the answer, boasting enough deposits in the USA alone to support the world for a thousand years.

Not only this, but unlike oil, thorium is distributed evenly around the world, reducing the risk of any conflict over this valuable resource. There will be no such thing as the “middle east of thorium.”

The abundance of thorium also has its economic benefits. Not only will the commercialization of this resource create thousands of jobs and re-spark the mining sector of Australia, but the average power bill will fall in price, creating more for the end-user.

The sheer simplicity of its extraction means that companies can afford to give more to its customers. It is proven that dredge mining; an unobtrusive extraction process can be used to mine thorium, drastically reducing environmental implications. A change to thorium ensures that everyone is happy.

A primary concern of nuclear energy has always been security and proliferation. Uranium, when burnt in a reactor produces Plutonium, the best possible bomb material. Thorium, on the other hand produces U233, a material that under any circumstances, be weaponized.

The international use of proliferation-resistant thorium has obvious benefits. No longer will a foreign country be suspected of pursuing a nuclear weapons program; the use of the thorium fuel cycle will not only increase efficiency and reduce costs, but eliminate any international doubt of their intent.

In fact, the world’s supplies of weapon-grade plutonium can be burnt and destroyed in thorium reactors.

The meltdown scenario is not at all possible with Thorium. Thorium reactors will possess passive features, where the laws of nature, such as gravity and thermodynamics will stop any runaway reactions and leakages. The temperature at which Thorium burns is also much less than that of Uranium.

Thorium nuclear waste is radioactive for tens of years, rather than the thousands that uranium waste is reactive for. Not only this, but the amount of waste produced by reactors amounts to less than half than that of uranium. Though the technology does not yet exist, U233, the primary waste isotope could be used in a closed thorium fuel cycle. This has obvious benefits in the disposal and storage of nuclear waste, as well as in security.

Enrichment is a vital phase for the preparation of uranium fuel. Thorium does not require these intensely expensive and dangerous stages. Instead Thorium Oxide is trucked straight to fuel fabrication to be converted into rods, before being used in the reactor.

Uranium, on the other hand must be transported to two different enrichment facilities, both under heavy security. With Thorium, the enormous infrastructure of expensive and risky transport as well as the related transport is entirely eliminated.

The new fuel is far more efficient than uranium, mainly due its chemical properties. In a reactor, thorium will give out more neutrons than it absorbs. This causes the fuel to burn longer and more thoroughly, working through all the fissile material required to start a reaction.

Uranium is 66 percent efficient, whereas Thorium is at an almost perfect 90 percent efficiency. It has been demonstrated that Thorium produces up to 200 percent more energy for the same mass of fuel.  Not only this, but the amount of raw Thorium required is far less, about one eighth of that of Uranium. This is because of the lack of enrichment stages, where 7/8ths of the raw material is lost.

In comparison, 550 000 pounds of raw uranium will produce 1000 Megawatts. Thorium requires only 69000 pounds of raw material to produce up to 3000 Megawatts. Thorium creates intense efficiency improvements in every part of the fuel cycle. This enhanced efficiency translates into reduced costs for the end user.

Thorium is not new technology. In fact, the first nuclear reactors of the USA were powered by thorium. However, this fuel was shortly dismissed by policy makers, due its inability to manufacture bomb material, such as plutonium. The cold war era is vastly different from the 21st century. Thorium could not be more appropriate now.

With the greatest concerns of nuclear energy solved by the use of the thorium fuel cycle, countries can be assured that nuclear is a safe technology. With this increased adoption of nuclear power, the world dependence on fossil fuels can drop dramatically. If more than 50 percent of power can be produced by thorium, then carbon emissions would experience enormous declines, thereby alleviating the problem of global warming. 

It is clear that Thorium is the fuel of today. Businessmen, politicians and the conservationist movement must all stand behind this new nuclear fuel for its plentiful energy, security and care for the environment. The change is very much possible – all current reactors can already facilitate thorium. A slight push is all that is needed, and the benefits of thorium will do the rest.