Editing Thorium dioxide (section)

===Nuclear fuels===
Thorium dioxide (thoria) can be used in nuclear reactors as ceramic fuel pellets, typically contained in nuclear fuel rods clad with zirconium alloys.  Thorium is not fissile (but is "fertile", breeding fissile [[uranium-233]] under neutron bombardment); hence, it must be used as a nuclear reactor fuel in conjunction with fissile isotopes of either uranium or plutonium.  This can be achieved by blending thorium with uranium or plutonium, or using it in its pure form in conjunction with separate fuel rods containing uranium or plutonium.  Thorium dioxide offers advantages over conventional uranium dioxide fuel pellets, because of its higher thermal conductivity (lower operating temperature), considerably higher melting point, and chemical stability (does not oxidize in the presence of water/oxygen, unlike uranium dioxide).

Thorium dioxide can be turned into a [[nuclear reaction|nuclear]] fuel by breeding it into uranium-233 (see below and refer to the article on [[thorium]] for more information on this). The high [[thermal stability]] of thorium dioxide allows applications in flame spraying and high-temperature ceramics.