I am interest how uranium 233 is created from thorium. Is it thorium + 1 neutron ?

 

 

thank you nsaspook

 

what does Thorium brake down into ?

 

what does Thorium brake down into ?

In that scheme shown by nsaspook , it (edit: 232Th) does not break down. It absorbs a neutron.

As for thorium in nature: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorium

 

thank you.
ok thats interesting I thought it may be able to do both - fission on receiving a neutron or just gain a neutron with out fissioning and become U233 and then fission.

 

In that scheme shown by nsaspook , it (edit: 232Th) does not break down. It absorbs a neutron.

As for thorium in nature: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorium

 

is there a Thorium that does fission on its own without breaking down into uranium 233 first ?

 

is there a Thorium that does fission on its own without breaking down into uranium 233 first ?

Not according to the Wiki link nor could I find it to be naturally occurring by Google. 233Th has a half-life of just 22 minutes.

Here's an interesting tidbit. Copper (pure) is normally difficult to machine. A little thorium alloyed with it makes a quite easily machinable copper. I have a bar of that stuff.

 

thanks for that I have found what I wanted know. in that how a breeder thorium reactor works. they start with U233 in salt that fissions . they have a second blanket of salt around it with Thorium in it. The spare neutrons from the fission enter the second blanket and create more u233 out of the thorium. which they transfer to the fuel salt. a ha light bulb moment

what does the u233 brake down into and is it useful or just waist ?

 

thank you.
ok thats interesting I thought it may be able to do both - fission on receiving a neutron or just gain a neutron with out fissioning and become U233 and then fission.

It wouldn't become U233 just by capturing a neutron -- the addition of a neutron wouldn't change the element -- it would go from being Th232 to Th233. But then it could decay to U233 by emitting a beta particle (with one of the neutrons becoming a proton, hence hiking the element up to uranium).

 

is there a Thorium that does fission on its own without breaking down into uranium 233 first ?

According to Wikipedia: "The isotope 229Th is expected to be fissionable with a bare critical mass of 2839 kg, although with steel reflectors this value could drop to 994 kg."

 

in this video at 9.20 kirk starts talking about using thorium in MSR's what is "the conversion rate" that he is talking about "conversion rate of 1" ?