A chemical element (symbol Th) with atomic number 90. A weakly radioactive, malleable, moderately hard silvery metal that tarnishes black when exposed to air.
Used in a Sentence
thorium
Definition, parts of speech, synonyms, and sentence examples for thorium.
Editorial note
The real reason to be interested in thorium is that it has reduced proliferation concern and also thorium is available in places where uranium is rare (India).
Examples16
Definitions1
Parts of speech1
Quick take
A chemical element (symbol Th) with atomic number 90. A weakly radioactive, malleable, moderately hard silvery metal that tarnishes black when exposed to air.
Meaning at a glance
The clearest senses and uses of thorium gathered in one view.
Definitions
Core meanings and parts of speech for thorium.
noun
A chemical element (symbol Th) with atomic number 90. A weakly radioactive, malleable, moderately hard silvery metal that tarnishes black when exposed to air.
Example sentences
The real reason to be interested in thorium is that it has reduced proliferation concern and also thorium is available in places where uranium is rare (India).
In some thorium designs, the fissionable U233 (bred from thorium) is mixed with U232, which is also very hard to separate and makes the material unworkable for weapons.
Australia does have large reserves of thorium, but its projected energy needs are dwarfed by India and China's.
By switching to Thorium it would also be safer, cheaper and the waste would go away in 30 years.
Not to mention it is also fuel agnostic so it can run on thorium as well.
The prevalence of Thorium is a big positive and the ability to process out existing nuclear waste is a tremendous boon.
We should propose Kirk Sorensen for a Nobel peace prize if Thorium takes off!
Having millennia of Thorium available is essentially renewable, at least for this civilization.
There are a lot of issues with Thorium apart from the weapons thing.
Pebble beds are also compatible with thorium, in case anybody was wondering.
There are many ways to create energy: solar, wind, water, nuclear (thorium!)...but storage is still unsolved.
I really wish the government would put more funding and research into things like thorium reactors and other types of reactors.
Quote examples
From wikipedia: "Monazite is a reddish-brown phosphate mineral containing rare earth metals and is an important source of thorium, lanthanum, and cerium.
Proper noun examples
Also, Trains are run by electricity which can be created through nuclear energy (Thorium reactors in the future etc.).
Thorium reactors are vulnerable to all of the above, but of course designs exploit various properties to mitigate the risk.
The reason that China and India are the only countries going after fission is because of a singular element - Thorium.
Frequently asked questions
Short answers drawn from the clearest meanings and examples for this word.
How do you use thorium in a sentence?
The real reason to be interested in thorium is that it has reduced proliferation concern and also thorium is available in places where uranium is rare (India).
What does thorium mean?
A chemical element (symbol Th) with atomic number 90. A weakly radioactive, malleable, moderately hard silvery metal that tarnishes black when exposed to air.
What part of speech is thorium?
thorium is commonly used as noun.