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China discovers ‘limitless’ energy source that could ‘power the country for 60,000 years’
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/sci...ds-endless-energy-source-right-under-our-feet
Chinese researchers claim that a slightly radioactive element called thorium, which can be found in mining waste globally, if properly extracted could end the worldwide dependence on fossil fuels.
According to a declassified report detailing the survey, which ended in 2020, China's thorium reserves, already known as the world's largest, may actually exceed previous estimates by orders of magnitude.
Just five years of mining waste from a single iron ore site in Inner Mongolia contains enough thorium to meet US household energy demands for more than 1,000 years, according to the report published in Chinese journal Geological Review in January.
Fully exploited, the Bayan Obo mining complex could yield 1 million tonnes of thorium - enough to fuel China for 60,000 years, according to some scientists' estimates.
"For over a century, nations have been engaging in wars over fossil fuels. It turns out the endless energy source lies right under our feet," said a Beijing-based geologist who requested not to be named because discussion about mineral deposits requires authorisation.
"Every nation has thorium. Imagine cargo ships powered by container-sized reactors crossing oceans for years without refuelling."
Thorium, a silver-coloured metal named after the Norse god of thunder, generates 200 times more energy than uranium. And unlike uranium reactors, thorium molten-salt reactors (TMSRs) are small, cannot melt down, require no water cooling and produce minimal long-lived radioactive waste.
Last year China approved the construction of the world's first TMSR power plant in the Gobi Desert - a pilot project that will generate 10 megawatts of electricity when it is up and running by 2029.
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/sci...ds-endless-energy-source-right-under-our-feet
Chinese researchers claim that a slightly radioactive element called thorium, which can be found in mining waste globally, if properly extracted could end the worldwide dependence on fossil fuels.
According to a declassified report detailing the survey, which ended in 2020, China's thorium reserves, already known as the world's largest, may actually exceed previous estimates by orders of magnitude.
Just five years of mining waste from a single iron ore site in Inner Mongolia contains enough thorium to meet US household energy demands for more than 1,000 years, according to the report published in Chinese journal Geological Review in January.
Fully exploited, the Bayan Obo mining complex could yield 1 million tonnes of thorium - enough to fuel China for 60,000 years, according to some scientists' estimates.
"For over a century, nations have been engaging in wars over fossil fuels. It turns out the endless energy source lies right under our feet," said a Beijing-based geologist who requested not to be named because discussion about mineral deposits requires authorisation.
"Every nation has thorium. Imagine cargo ships powered by container-sized reactors crossing oceans for years without refuelling."
Thorium, a silver-coloured metal named after the Norse god of thunder, generates 200 times more energy than uranium. And unlike uranium reactors, thorium molten-salt reactors (TMSRs) are small, cannot melt down, require no water cooling and produce minimal long-lived radioactive waste.
Last year China approved the construction of the world's first TMSR power plant in the Gobi Desert - a pilot project that will generate 10 megawatts of electricity when it is up and running by 2029.
