Thorium: Crustal Abundance, Joint Production, and Economic Availability
Recently, interest in thorium's potential use in a nuclear fuel cycle has been renewed. Thorium is more abundant, at least on average, than uranium in the earth's crust and, therefore, could theoretically extend the use of nuclear energy technology beyond the economic limits of uranium res...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
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Pergamon Press
2015
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/36056 |
| _version_ | 1848754663226081280 |
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| author | Jordan, B. Eggert, R. Dixon, B. Carlsen, B. |
| author_facet | Jordan, B. Eggert, R. Dixon, B. Carlsen, B. |
| author_sort | Jordan, B. |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Recently, interest in thorium's potential use in a nuclear fuel cycle has been renewed. Thorium is more abundant, at least on average, than uranium in the earth's crust and, therefore, could theoretically extend the use of nuclear energy technology beyond the economic limits of uranium resources. This paper provides an economic assessment of thorium availability by creating cumulative-availability and potential mining-industry cost curves, based on known thorium resources. These tools provide two perspectives on the economic availability of thorium. In the long term, physical quantities of thorium likely will not be a constraint on the development of a thorium fuel cycle. In the medium term, however, thorium supply may be limited by constraints associated with its production as a by-product of rare earth elements and heavy mineral sands. Environmental concerns, social issues, regulation, and technology also present issues for the medium and long term supply of thorium. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:43:59Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-36056 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:43:59Z |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publisher | Pergamon Press |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-360562017-09-13T15:15:33Z Thorium: Crustal Abundance, Joint Production, and Economic Availability Jordan, B. Eggert, R. Dixon, B. Carlsen, B. Recently, interest in thorium's potential use in a nuclear fuel cycle has been renewed. Thorium is more abundant, at least on average, than uranium in the earth's crust and, therefore, could theoretically extend the use of nuclear energy technology beyond the economic limits of uranium resources. This paper provides an economic assessment of thorium availability by creating cumulative-availability and potential mining-industry cost curves, based on known thorium resources. These tools provide two perspectives on the economic availability of thorium. In the long term, physical quantities of thorium likely will not be a constraint on the development of a thorium fuel cycle. In the medium term, however, thorium supply may be limited by constraints associated with its production as a by-product of rare earth elements and heavy mineral sands. Environmental concerns, social issues, regulation, and technology also present issues for the medium and long term supply of thorium. 2015 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/36056 10.1016/j.resourpol.2015.02.002 Pergamon Press restricted |
| spellingShingle | Jordan, B. Eggert, R. Dixon, B. Carlsen, B. Thorium: Crustal Abundance, Joint Production, and Economic Availability |
| title | Thorium: Crustal Abundance, Joint Production, and Economic Availability |
| title_full | Thorium: Crustal Abundance, Joint Production, and Economic Availability |
| title_fullStr | Thorium: Crustal Abundance, Joint Production, and Economic Availability |
| title_full_unstemmed | Thorium: Crustal Abundance, Joint Production, and Economic Availability |
| title_short | Thorium: Crustal Abundance, Joint Production, and Economic Availability |
| title_sort | thorium: crustal abundance, joint production, and economic availability |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/36056 |