Thorium
| This article is a stub. You can help Lunarpedia by expanding it or sorting it into the correct stub subcategory. |
| Atomic symbol: | Th | |
| Atomic number: | 90 | |
| Group: | n/a | |
| Period: | 7 | |
| Series: | Actinides |
Naturally Occuring Isotopes
- Th232
Thorium is a soft, very ductile, silver-gray, heavy, metallic element of the actinide series of elements. Thorium is used in some high strength alloys and ultraviolet photoelectric cells.
Thorium is present in small quantities in all volcanic rocks. Uranium-Thorium radioactive dating is a key technique for establishing the date of rocks.
When bombarded with neutrons thorium becomes uranium 233, a fuel for nuclear reactors. Since nuclear reactors produce neutrons, this cycle can be used as a self-sustaining nuclear reaction producing power from Thorium fuel, although at present no commercial reactors use this fuel.
