Thor Energy - thorium a viable option to uranium

Thor Energy AS has evaluated the possibility of utilizing Norway’s thorium deposits (or other thorium resources) for nuclear energy production within an international context.

Named for the Norse god of thunder, thorium is a lustrous silvery-white metal. It’s only slightly radioactive. On the periodic table of elements, it’s found along with other dense, radioactive substances, including uranium and plutonium, known as actinides.

The company has completed a 2-year thorium fuel cycle feasibility study which concludes that thorium-based nuclear fuel has several advantages over uranium-based fuel, including better waste characteristics, improved proliferation resistance, and abundant raw material supply.

Thor Energy has established a consortium that will fund and run a 5-year thorium irradiation project to be conducted at the Halden Nuclear Reactor in Norway. Targeted  start-up of the project is at the beginning of 2012.

Thor Energy is owned by Thor Corporation a holding company which also has shares in businesses related to thorium fuel, thorium mining and separation of rare earth elements (REE).  Fen Minerals holds the mining rights to the Fen deposits in South Norway, which are rich on thorium and rare earth elements (REE). The third company is Norwegian Separation Technology, a company in the process of developig a novel separation method for REE.