UPSC 2012: To meet its rapidly growing energy demand, some opine that India should pursue research and development on thorium as the future fuel of nuclear energy. In this context, what advantage does thorium hold over uranium? 1. Thorium is far more abundant in nature than uranium. 2. On the basis of per unit mass of mined mineral, thorium can generate more energy compared to natural uranium. 3. Thorium produces less harmful waste compared to uranium. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Thorium-232 is about three to four times more abundant in the Earth’s crust than uranium-235/238 ([iaea.org](https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/thoriums-long-term-potential-in-nuclear-energy-new-iaea-analysis?utm_source=openai)). When used in breeder or molten-salt reactor concepts it can yield more fissile U-233 per unit mass than natural uranium yields U-235, giving a higher energy potential ([world-nuclear.org](https://world-nuclear.org/Information-Library/Current-and-future-generation/Thorium?utm_source=openai)). Thorium fuel cycles also generate far fewer long-lived trans-uranic actinides, so the radiotoxic life and volume of waste are lower than with conventional uranium fuel ([iaea.org](https://www.iaea.org/bulletin/thoriums-long-term-potential-in-nuclear-energy?utm_source=openai)). Therefore all three statements are correct.