Thorium is a naturally occurring radioactive element and offers potential advantages over uranium. Thorium is a precious nuclear fuel - but India is squandering it. And now there's proof with TIMES NOW to show how mining for this precious nuclear fuel was allowed even as states chose to turn a blind eye. Mining for monazite which contains Thorium is allowed only by Government agency Indian Rare Earths Limited (IREL) but in this case a private firm was recommended and shockingly by the state Government. VV Minerals have applied for a mining lease for Garnet, Illmenite, Rutile, Zircon, Sillimanite Leucoxene and Monazite in their patta lands. The District Collector has forwarded the mining lease application for consideration of grant of mining lease for a period of 30 years for the minerals indicated in the para above, letter from Tamil Nadu Commissioner of Geology and Mining to Principal Secretary, Industries Department (Tamil Nadu) dated on December 12, 2011, said.
Proof 2 of the open loot - this letter again showing how Monazite was conveniently edited from an agreement between a state agency and a private mining firm so it could go unnoticed. AV Bellarmin, former Nagercoil MP, CPM said, Rules have been changed and the private sand mining mafia has destroyed the beaches of southern Tamil Nadu. It's a shame as India is the world's leading reserve for Thorium which is also part of India's 3 stage nuclear power programme - sadly we don't seem to care even as it's looted under the Government's watch. Take a look at a rough estimate into how much of nuclear fuel has already been lost and the figures that emerge are shocking. So why's the Government choosing to turn a blind eye?
The allegations are that nearly 21 lakh tonnes of Monazite have been stolen and exported, which is equal to 195,300 tonnes of thorium, BJP MP Hansraj Gangaram Ahir's letter to Prime Minister said. No private entity or individual has ever been given permission to process monazite. Indian Rare Earths Limited, a PSU under the Department, is the only agency is the country that has been permitted to process monazite and to export the same in a very limited quantity, as per Department of Atomic Energy response said. On the face of it, the Department of Atomic Energy claims nobody has ever been given permission to mine for monazite but the truth on India's coast speaks a different story - and as the loot stands exposed - will we finally wake up or let this too get stolen?
2 Comments
Thorium is so abundant on
Submitted by AlexC on
Thorium is so abundant on Earth and any rocky body in the solar system that I wonder how exportation of any amounts could be harmful to India's economy.
Also, Thorium is only a "nuclear fuel" if used in a reactor or other machine containing a neutron flux and breeding U233 from the Thorium. By itself, Thorium is not a fission fuel.
I would agree with AlexC.
Submitted by Robert Steinhaus on
I would agree with AlexC.
There is only a very tiny commercial market for Thorium currently, mostly relating to high-temperature welding rods and lantern mantles.
There is no place in the world yet that is using commercial quantities of Thorium for power generation. If private removal of monazite has been occurring in India, it is probably related to the removal of monazite sand to produce rare earths like neodymium, which do have a high commercial value and a strong international market. Neodymium is needed for making high quality magnets for wind generators and components for cell phones. Both Neodymium and Thorium tend to be found in the same monazite sands (typically, the Thorium is just discarded by most monazite processors and is left in the tailings).
Thorium is only a fission fuel directly in a fast neutron spectrum, where the fast fission cross section for Thorium permits direct fission of Th-232 under the right conditions. Thorium in a fast spectrum would still be sub-critical (it is not possible to form a critical mass for Th-232, even in a fast spectrum) but in an environment of externally supplied fusion neutrons from a fusion reactor or particle accelerator, will directly fission in a fast spectrum producing energy while not first going through a U-233 transmutation step. A fusion-fission hybrid reactor will burn fertile Th-232 or U-238 more rapidly than even the largest SRF linear accelerators as the flux of neutrons is at least 10X larger.
Fast-spectrum fusion-fission reactors can directly burn fertile Thorium nuclear fuel in a fast neutron spectrum. The fast fission cross section of fertile U238 is larger than for Thorium, making it easier to use than Thorium as a direct fast fission fuel in specialized fusion-fission hybrid reactors.