In our previous post we discussed Uranium ,no is the time to its future alternative. Thorium – a radioactive earth rare metal – was discovered in Sweden in 1828 and got its name after Thor – Scandinavian god of war. This nice picture from Wikipedia shows its position among the minerals
Thorium does not occur to significant extent in the biosphere, however, it has a huge amount of untapped energy – according to some scientists more than from combined uranium and fossil fuel sources. However, as compared to Uranium, Thorium it is about 3-4 times as abundant in the earth’s crust and is a widely distributed natural resource, which is readily accessible in many countries.
Source: : THORIUM ENERGY SOURCE – Opportunities for Norway
There are in fact six minerals that contain Thorium: Cheralite, Huttonite, Pilbarite, Thorianite, Thorite and Thorogummite. Thorium has recently received global attention as a safer, greener fuel, which produces significantly less waste than uranium, and has no use in the manufacturing of nuclear weapons in sharp contrast to both the enriched uranium and plutonium. That is why investments in production of thorium may yield good returns in the next decade or so. “While the Chinese are attempting such stunts as mining the moon for lucrative energy sources, other countries are developing thorium as an alternative nuclear fuel. India, for example, is looking to thorium to help meet their burgeoning energy demands.” – writes Keith Kole.
By far the most comprehensive report on Thorium is produced in Norway: THORIUM ENERGY SOURCE – Opportunities for Norway. This is very detailed research on the metal, its current applications and possible future. Here is another graph from publication:
Currently production of thorium is about several hundred tons per year. The production reached about 1,000 tons in the 1970s, and has decreased thereafter due to lack of demand.
Not too many companies are involved in business with Thorium, the most notable are:
Thorium Power – USA: develops and owns relevant nuclear fuel technology (a nice story on the company was recently presented HERE, YouTube video, and investment report is provided by Beacon Equity Research.)
Thor Energy AS – Norway
Punj Lloyd Ltd. – India
Within the limits of my blog I cannot describe all the details, however, those who may be interested – please, use the following references that provide very useful information on the subject
For those who like to watch – Energy From Thorium on YouTube – Kirk Sorensen’s Tech Talk, delivered at Google on July 20, 2009 – more than 1 hour, but worth it.
Ten Essential Facts about Thorium http://www.thoriumpower.com/files/Ten_Essential_Facts_About_thorium.pdf
World Nuclear Association – Thorium Report
http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf62.html
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) – Thorium Statistics and Information
http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/thorium/
International Atomic Energy Agency – Thorium Fuel Cycle
http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/PDF/TE_1450_web.pdf
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia – Thorium Article
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorium
http://www.statkraft.no/Images/Bergfald_tcm3-6904.pdf
http://www.doh.wa.gov/ehp/rp/factsheets/factsheets-pdf/fs30th232.pdf
Thorium cycle: Trick or treat?
http://www.ats-fns.fi/archive/esitys_wallenius.pdf
http://thoriumenergy.blogspot.com/
Thorium: An Alternative to Uranium, 2007 Update http://www.resourceinvestor.com/News/2007/2/Pages/Thorium–An-Alternative-to-Uranium–2007-Update.aspx
Thorium: Earth’s Forgotten Treasure
http://www.energyfromthorium.com/
4 Responses to “Investor’s Challenge: Thorium a Safe and Green Alternative to Uranium”
By Patrick Kennedy
on Aug 18, 2009
Reply
To learn more about thorium;
Understanding the Impact of Thorium on the Energy Economy
To know the future of energy, you must gain an understanding of a rapidly growing movement to implement Thorium as a major component of the energy economy.
The Thorium Energy Alliance presents the first ever Thorium Energy Conference Oct 19, 2009 at the Kellogg Conference Center at Gallaudet University, Washington D.C.
Join the Thorium Energy Alliance and attend the conference on October 19th & 20th to gain first hand knowledge of the latest developments in the Thorium energy future.
As recently reported in the Wall Street Journal, The Guardian and Times of London, the potential of generating electricity from thorium resolves issues of concern raised by nuclear power.
You can not use Thorium to make Nuclear Weapons – it is non-proliferating
There is 4 times as much Thorium on the planet as Uranium
The United States has 1000 years worth of Thorium
Thorium energy generation will recycle and eliminate nuclear waste
The U.S. has built Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors before
A Thorium generator, such as a LFTR type, can be developed in a few years
Thorium creates less than 1% of the waste of Uranium Power
A Thorium power plant needs no pressure vessel or containment building
The cost per Megawatt could be less than 2 million dollars
United States Congressman Joe Sestak (PA-7) as well as Orin Hatch and Harry Reid have submitted bills to congress to credit funding to complete the research and development of the Thorium Fuel cycle. $500 million has been requested to finalize designs.
Several new publicly traded companies have emerged recently to develop the new rapidly growing thorium energy economy.
As a result of the recent flurry of activity in the fast moving field of Thorium energy production, it was decided that a professional organization be created to help answer the demand for information.
In the spring of 2009, The Thorium Energy Alliance, a pending 501(c) 3 educational organization was structured. A founding member of the Alliance, John Kutsch said “we knew 50 years ago that Thorium was the future of energy and today we must make it a reality.”
The Thorium Energy Alliance (TEA.);
Educates our government leaders and policy makers with round table discussions, provides them with expert witnesses, white papers, and demonstrates the technology and its uses.
Provides staff with executive summaries and talking points supporting the Thorium technologies.
Engages the public through all media channels.
Provides the public with experts to appear on radio and television.
Will provide subjects for interviews for all media.
Is creating scholarships to encourage engineers to learn about Thorium
Is producing Text books, and learning materials for College engineering courses
Generates media, including; Webcasts, Pod Casts, Videos, pamphlets, books and articles.
Creates highly targeted ad campaigns in print media, video and targeted mail.
Tracks the milestones in the creation of a Thorium Economy.
Resources to learn more:
Most people require a quick tutorial to become conversant with the huge impact that Thorium has on the Energy Economy and you can find much of the technical information you seek here: http://www.energyfromthorium.com/joomla/
A four minute YouTube video can easily be accessed through; “Thorium Energy Future” at;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eU3cUssuz-U or at; http://www.youtube.com/watchv=AZR0UKxNPh8
For more information or to arrange an interview contact:
Thoriumenergyalliance@gmail.com
312-303-5019
http://www.ThoriumEnergyAlliance.com
By John Wheeler
on Oct 23, 2009
Reply
This past week I attended the inaugural Thorium Energy Alliance Conference in Washington DC. It was an informative and thought provoking conference. I posted a blog and podcast with the keynote address at “This Week in Nuclear”
John Wheeler
Producer of “This Week in Nuclear”
http://thisweekinnuclear.com