Thorium pre-breeder/breeder route to widen the nuclear material base for generation of electric power

Fission nuclear power is generated almost exclusively from uranium in the power reactors operating in the world today. Though the potential of thorium had been recognized very early, no cost-effective reactors have been designed that can use thorium in a major way. Eventually depleted uranium and thorium would become comparable candidates in the sense that both would need some man-made fissile isotope to continue fission nuclear power. Plutonium will be the only seed material that would be available from the fuel discharged from uranium reactors. In this paper an early induction of thorium in uranium reactors is advocated in order to widen the nuclear material base for continuation of fission nuclear power. (author)