C+-+What+is+a+Thorium+Reactor?

By : Willy Yang SCH4U1-03 Presented on : November 10th, 2010 **__What is a Thorium Reactor? __** Thorium is a radioactive chemical element. In the periodic table, it's symbols are Th and has the atomic number 90. This element was found by the Swedish Chemist Jons Jakob Berzelius, who named it after Thor, the Norse god of Thunder. This element only occurs naturally in oxidized form. In room temperature, it is a silvery-white metal. Thorium is mostly found in small amounts in most rocks and soils. Thorium can be used for generating nuclear energy. A thorium reactor operates at low temperatures and has no magnets, vacuum chamber or high-pressure systems, and has no superstructure holding it together. Thorium reactors are very hot and radioactive, necessitating shielding. These reactors can be made of almost any size. Thorium reactors, when mixed with uranium-233, can be used for a nuclear weapon. Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor : · the liquid fluoride fuel form remains as a liquid even under extreme temperatures without boiling. · Able to run at atmospheric pressure · Safer than current high-pressure water cooled reactors. · Start with a fluoride salt. In this reactor it will be heated so much, it melts. · Dissolve Thorium fluoride in the liquid salt. · Thorium-232 absorbs neutrons and turns into Uranium-233 · The uranium-233 fissions and produces heat plus more neutrons Molten Salt Reactor: · Fewer things to absorb the neutrons · <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Separates fission products from fuel while operating to make it possible for them to burn all their actinides. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Subcritical Reactor: · <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">a nuclear fission reactor without achieving criticality. · <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Uses additional neutrons from an outside source.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">What is Thorium? **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">What is a Thorium Reactor? **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Types of Reactors: **

**<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Bibliography: ** <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">1. PowerPedia:Thorium Reactors - PESWiki." // Main Page - PESWiki // . N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Nov. 2010. <http://peswiki.com/index.php/PowerPedia:Thorium_Reactors>.  <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">2. "What is Thorium?." // wiseGEEK: clear answers for common questions // . N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Nov. 2010. <http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-thorium.htm>.   <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">3. "Thorium Reactor." // Thorium // . N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Nov. 2010. <http://www.thorium.tv/en/thorium_reactor/thorium_reactor_1.php>.   <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">4. Brain, Marshall. "How a Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor (LFTR) works – The Blogs at HowStuffWorks." // The Blogs at HowStuffWorks // . N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Nov. 2010. <http://blogs.howstuffworks.com/2009/12/01/how-a-liquid-fluoride-thorium-reactor-lftr-works/>.   <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">5. "AccessScience | Encyclopedia Article | Nuclear fuels ."//McGraw-Hill's AccessScience Encyclopedia of Science & Technology Online//. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Nov. 2010. <http://www.accessscience.com/abstract.aspx?id=458600&referURL=http://www.accessscience.com/content.aspx%3fsearchStr%3dthorium%2breactor%26id%3d458600>.