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Monazite contains 2.5% thorium, allanite has 0.1 to 2% thorium and zircon can have up to 0.4% thorium. [2] Thorium-containing minerals occur on all continents. [3] [4] [5] Thorium is several times more abundant in Earth's crust than all isotopes of uranium combined and thorium-232 is several hundred times more abundant than uranium-235. [6]
Two radiometric dating methods involve thorium isotopes: uranium–thorium dating, based on the decay of 234 U to 230 Th, and ionium–thorium dating, which measures the ratio of 232 Th to 230 Th. [e] These rely on the fact that 232 Th is a primordial radioisotope, but 230 Th only occurs as an intermediate decay product in the decay chain of ...
Thorium resources are the estimated mineral reserves of thorium on Earth. Thorium is a future potential source of low-carbon energy. [1] Thorium has been demonstrated to perform as a nuclear fuel in several reactor designs. [2] [3] It is present with a higher abundance than uranium in the crust of the earth. Thorium resources have not been ...
Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) and technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials (TENORM) consist of materials, usually industrial wastes or by-products enriched with radioactive elements found in the environment, such as uranium, thorium and potassium and any of their decay products, such as radium and radon. [1]
Thorium (90 Th) has seven naturally occurring isotopes but none are stable. One isotope, 232 Th, is relatively stable, with a half-life of 1.405×10 10 years, considerably longer than the age of the Earth, and even slightly longer than the generally accepted age of the universe.
The half-life of thorium-232 (14 billion years) is more than three times the age of the Earth; thorium-232 therefore occurs in nature as a primordial nuclide.Other thorium isotopes occur in nature in much smaller quantities as intermediate products in the decay chains of uranium-238, uranium-235, and thorium-232.
A sample of thorium. Thorium-based nuclear power generation is fueled primarily by the nuclear fission of the isotope uranium-233 produced from the fertile element thorium.A thorium fuel cycle can offer several potential advantages over a uranium fuel cycle [Note 1] —including the much greater abundance of thorium found on Earth, superior physical and nuclear fuel properties, and reduced ...
220 Rn, also called thoron, is a natural decay product of the most stable thorium isotope (232 Th). It has a half-life of 55.6 seconds and also emits alpha radiation . Similarly, 219 Rn is derived from the most stable isotope of actinium ( 227 Ac)—named "actinon"—and is an alpha emitter with a half-life of 3.96 seconds.