A group of geological scientists in China discovered an “unlimited” energy source that can provide the country with energy for 60,000 years, at the Oboo Mining Complex in the inner Mongolia, where the unlimited energy source contains huge quantities of thorium, a slight radioactive element that can be used in nuclear reactors with molten salt to produce huge amounts of energy.
The British newspaper “Daily Mail” published a report by the two writers Natasha Anderson and William Hunter in which they said that the Chinese group of scientists indicated that the mining complex in Oppo statement in the internal Mongolia region, a self -rule area in northern China, may contain enough thorium to meet the needs of home energy in China “indefinitely”, according to a national survey, where this radioactive element can be Its use to produce a type of nuclear power plants called the “molten salt reactor”, which can provide huge amounts of energy that may reach one million tons of thorium.
The study claims that thorium resources in mining waste in the country “are still virgin”, and if they are extracted properly, it may be sufficient to end global dependence on fossil fuels.
According to the two writers; The researchers claim that the accumulated mining waste 5 years ago at the Iron Cry site in the inner Mongolia contains a sufficient amount of thorium that can meet American energy needs for more than a thousand years.
The authors pointed out that this report comes at a time when China, Russia and the United States are racing to expand their nuclear technologies and make nuclear energy a main energy source.
The study identified 233 regions rich in eruption across the country, and if the results are accurate, then the ourium reserves in China greatly exceed the previous estimates, as they are estimated to be 500 times more than uranium-232 used in traditional nuclear reactors, where thorium was welcomed as a potential solution to meet the demand for nuclear energy.
It is noteworthy that thorium alone is not fission, that is, it cannot be used directly in fission, but it can be a basis for a fissile interaction, because the thorium is “fertile”, which means that it can turn into uranium-2233 (U-223) when exposed to neutrons, and in the molten brine, the thorium is mixed with a chemical called lithium-so-called fluoride, and it is heated to about 1400 ° C.
The authors added that this mixture is then exposed to bombing of neutrons until some thorium begins to turn into uranium-232, which later decomposes in a fissile interaction, and during its decomposition, this uranium produces more neutrons that convert more thorium into fuel.
The authors pointed out that China, which started building the first nuclear power plant in the world’s molten salt reactor system, has sufficient thorium reserves to meet its energy needs for 20 thousand years.
A researcher from Beijing, who asked not to be identified, told The South China Post: “For more than a century, nations have fought wars on fossil fuels. It is clear that the unlimited energy source lies directly below our feet, noting that” every country that possesses thorium “that can revolutionize the energy industry.”
Researchers around the world have always explored the use of thorium, which is a slightly radioactive natural mineral, as a main source of energy for many years, due to its availability in nature compared to uranium, and it can also generate energy more than 200 times more than those generated by uranium, according to the World Nuclear Association. However, the World Nuclear Assembly warns that extracting this element in an economically feasible manner is still a challenge.
The authors concluded the report by saying that researchers point out that the use of thorium in molten salt reactors will result in less toxic waste in the long run, and it may be easier to re -treat it.
