The essentials
TOPIC
Fertile, not fissile
Th-232 absorbs a neutron and decays to U-233, which does fission. That means it needs a starter and a breeding cycle to run.
TOPIC
The proliferation angle
U-233 comes with U-232, whose decay chain is intensely gamma-active. That makes the material self-protecting and hard to divert quietly.
TOPIC
Why it stalled
The weapons programs of the 1950s needed plutonium. Uranium won on that basis, and the infrastructure built around it never unwound.
3-4×
More abundant
U-233
Bred fuel
U-232
Self-protecting
1950s
Why it lost
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Part of the Porritt Inc. energy library. Questions or corrections are welcome.
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