In SSC and Railway exams, many questions are asked from Minerals of India….Top Mineral Producer in India (State-wise) and Other Countries.

Kerala

Thorium is typically found in the minerals thorite, thorianite and monazite however monazite is the only mineral from which Thorium is currently mined. These monazite deposits are found in placer deposits. India and the United States currently have the most thorium deposits in the world (Pohl, 2011).

Thorium is found in Kerala, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, and Rajasthan.

Thorium cannot in itself power a reactor; unlike natural uranium, it does not contain enough fissile material to initiate a nuclear chain reaction. As a result it must first be bombarded with neutrons to produce the highly radioactive isotope uranium-233 – ‘so these are really U-233 reactors,’ says Karamoskos.

The salts cost roughly $150/kg, and thorium costs about $30/kg.

Thorium nuclear waste only stays radioactive for 500 years, instead of 10,000, and there is 1,000 to 10,000 times less of it to start with. Researchers have studied thorium-based fuel cycles for 50 years, but India leads the pack when it comes to commercialization.

It’s not illegal to own a small amount of thorium metal and it can be obtained in certain processed forms – it used to be in gas lantern mantles for example – but you will require a license if the amounts are large enough or if you plan to make anything out of it.

Concentrating Thorium Thorium is found across a large expanse of the moon’s Near Side with concentrations of 10-20 parts per million (ppm) [1].

In the lunar highlands, most areas have Th concentration of ~1.2 ppm, comparable to ~1.4 ppm (Lawrence et al. 2000) and ~0.8 ppm (Prettyman et al.

Thorium is a basic element of nature, like Iron and Uranium. Like Uranium, its properties allow it to be used to fuel a nuclear chain reaction that can run a power plant and make electricity (among other things). Thorium itself will not split and release energy.

monazite Sands

Thorium can also be used to breed uranium for use in a breeder reactor. Put very simply, thorium can be used together with conventional uranium-based nuclear power generation, meaning a thriving thorium industry would not necessarily make uranium obsolete.

Most importantly, meltdowns aren’t possible with thorium reactors because the reaction is not self-sustaining. That last safety advantage is also the main drawback of thorium. You need a little uranium and a neutron source to get the reaction kickstarted.

Thorium is named after Thor, the Scandinavian god of war.

Thorium is safer and more efficient to mine than uranium, thus making it more environmentally friendly. It is estimated that one ton of thorium can produce as much energy as 35 tons of uranium in a liquid fluoride thorium reactor.

Soil commonly contains an average of around 6 parts per million (ppm) of thorium. Thorium occurs in several minerals including thorite (ThSiO4), thorianite (ThO2 + UO2) and monazite….Thorium resource estimates.