Can thorium replace uranium in nuclear reactors?

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fnord
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Re: Can thorium replace uranium in nuclear reactors?

Post by fnord »

Ted C, how would Th be generated as a byproduct of a CANDU's operation? I could understand some unconverted (to U233) Th left over if it was part of the initial fertile load, but a byproduct? I'm afraid I'm not following you.
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sketerpot
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Re: Can thorium replace uranium in nuclear reactors?

Post by sketerpot »

Ted C wrote:As I recall from some cursory research on the subject, Thorium is one of the byproducts of CANDU-style reactors, and it can easily be fed back into the reactor after a bit of processing, so Thorium-fueled reactors are actually in use today in some places.
Not quite. CANDU reactors can use thorium as all or part of their fuel mix, breeding it to U-233 which is fissile. It's not quite as simple as a molten salt reactor, because they have to manage the fuel rods carefully, and they don't get the advantage of really easy online reprocessing, but it's definitely something that CANDU reactors can do.
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