THORIUM DAN PERKEMBANGAN PEMBANGKIT

ENERGI THORIUM DI INDONESIA

RINO AGUSTIANTO
2015 91 0001
Summary
 Energy Generation Comparison

230 train cars (25,000 MT) of bituminous coal or,

600 train cars (66,000 MT) of brown coal,
(Source: World Coal Institute)

=
or, 440 million cubic feet of natural gas (15% of a
125,000 cubic meter LNG tanker),

6 kg of thorium metal in a liquid-fluoride

reactor has the energy equivalent (66,000
MW*hr electrical*) of:

*Each ounce of thorium can therefore produce or, 300 kg of enriched (3%) uranium in a
$14,000-24,000 of electricity (at $0.04-0.07/kW*hr) pressurized water reactor.
 2007 World Energy Consumption
The Future:
5.3 billion tonnes of Energy from Thorium
coal (128 quads)

31.1 billion barrels

of oil (180 quads)

2.92 trillion m3
of natural gas
(105 quads)

6600 tonnes of thorium

65,000 tonnes of (500 quads)
uranium ore (24
quads)
 Todays Uranium Fuel Cycle vs. Thorium

35 t of enriched uranium
(1.15 t U-235) Uranium-235 content is 35 t of spent fuel stored
burned out of the fuel; some on-site until disposal at
250 t of natural plutonium is formed and Yucca Mountain. It
uranium burned contains:
containing 1.75 t
U-235 33.4 t uranium-238

215 t of depleted uranium 0.3 t uranium-235

containing 0.6 t U-235 0.3 t plutonium
disposal plans uncertain.
1.0 t fission products.

Within 10 years, 83% of

fission products are
stable and can be
partitioned and sold.

One tonne One tonne of

of natural Thorium introduced into fission products; no The remaining 17%
thorium blanket of fluoride reactor; uranium, fission products go to
completely converted to plutonium, or other geologic isolation for
uranium-233 and burned. actinides. ~300 years.
How it all began
 The Discovery of Thorium

Thorium was discovered in 1828 by the Swedish

scientist Jons Jacob Berzelius.

Berzelius named thorium after Thor, the Norse

god of thunder.

There was little to say about thorium when it was

first discovered apart from its specific weight and its
high-temperature capabilities.

thallium, thorium, thulium

 Thorium is Radioactive

In 1898, Marie Curie made a remarkable

discovery:
Thorium and uranium were radioactive!

But with a 15 billion-year half-life

(older than the universe), it didnt
decay very often and had very
low radioactivity

Eventually thorium decays to

lead-208.
 Natural Decay Chains

There are four natural decay chains, three of which still exist on
Earth. The fourth is extinct due to rapid decay.

Uranium
(4n+2) Lead Pb,Bi,Po Pb,Bi,Po Polonium Radon Radium Thorium Th,Pa,U Uranium
21 26 3 3.8 1600 80000 247 4.5
206 yr 210 min 214 min 218 day 222 yr 226 yr 230 kyr 234 Gyr 238

Actinium Tl,Pb Pb,Bi Polonium Radon Fr,Ra Ac,Th Th,Pa Uranium

(4n+3) 36 0.0018 4
11 days
21 32500 700
207 min 211 sec 215 sec 219 223 yr 227 yr 231 Myr 235

Thorium Tl,Pb Pb,Bi,Po Polonium Radon Radium Ra,Ac,Th Thorium

(4n) 10 0.15 55 3.64 6.7 14.1
208 hr 212 sec 216 sec 220 day 224 yr 228 Gyr 232

Neptunium Tl,Pb,Bi Bi,Po Astatine Francium Ra,Ac Thorium 162 Pa,U 2.14 Neptunium
(4n+1) 47 0.032
5 min
10 7340
209 min 213 sec 217 221 days 225 yr 229 kyr 233 Myr 237
209
206
207
208

210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227

229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
228
 Tiga Terobosan Konseptual

Nuclear Fission (1939)Otto Hahn

and Lise Meitner discover that
neutrons cause uranium atoms to split,
releasing energy.

The true nature of the nucleus (1935)

Hideki Yukawa hypothesizes that the
nucleus consists protons and neutrons
bound together by a nuclear force
that overcomes the inherent repulsion
of the protons to one another.

Radioactivity (1896)Henri Becquerel

discovered that some elements
(uranium and thorium) emit particles
spontaneously.
 Once youve figured out how matter really works,
you realize that if youre looking for a dense source
of energy, nuclear fission is your answer.
 Three basic options for fission

The fission of U-235

was discovered by
Otto Hahn and Lise
Meitner in 1938.
Uranium-235
(0.7% of all U)

Pu-239 as a fissile
fuel was discovered
by Glenn Seaborg in
March 1941.
Uranium-238 Plutonium-239
(99.3% of all U)

U-233 as a fissile
fuel was discovered
by Seaborgs student
John Gofman in
Thorium-232 Uranium-233
(100% of all Th) February 1942.
 Could weapons be made from the fissile material?

Uranium-235
Natural (highly enriched
uranium uranium)

Isotope separation Hiroshima, 8/6/1945

plant (Y-12)

Depleted
uranium

Isotope Production Pu separation from Trinity, 7/16/1945

Reactor (Hanford) exposed U (PUREX) Nagasaki, 8/9/1945

PROBLEM: U-233 is contaminated

with U-232, whose decay chain
Isotope uranium emits HARD gamma rays that make
Thorium? Production separation fabrication, utilization and
Reactor from exposed deployment of weapons VERY
thorium difficult and impractical relative to
other options. Thorium was not
pursued.
U-232 decays into Tl-208, a HARD gamma emitter

Thallium-208 emits hard 2.6 MeV 14 billion years 232

U
gamma-rays as part of its nuclear decay. to make this
jump
Some 232U
These gamma rays destroy the electonics starts decaying
and explosives that control detonation. immediately

They require thick lead shielding and yr

1
have a distinctive and easily detectable 1.9
signature.

4 d
3.6

se
c Uranium-232 follows the same decay
55
chain as thorium-232, but it follows it
ec millions of times faster!
.16s
0
This is because 232Th has a 14 billion-
year half-life, but 232U has only an 74
year half-life!
Once it starts down the hill it gets to
thallium-208 (the gamma emitter) in just
a few weeks!
U-232 Formation in the Thorium Fuel Cycle
Use fluoride reprocessing technology to help fix
current concerns with spent nuclear fuel.

Use it to start new LFTRs that dont contribute to

the problem.
 Waste generation from 1000 MW*yr uranium-fueled light-water
reactor

Conversion to natural
Mining 800,000 MT of Milling and processing to
UF6 (247 MT U)
ore containing 0.2% yellowcakenatural U3O8
uranium (260 MT U) (248 MT U) Generates 170 MT of solid
waste and 1600 m3 of liquid
Generates ~600,000 MT of waste rock Generates 130,000 MT of mill tailings waste

Enrichment of 52 MT of
(3.2%) UF6 (35 MT U) Fabrication of 39 MT of enriched (3.2%) Irradiation and disposal
Generates 314 MT of depleted UO2 (35 MT U) of 39 MT of spent fuel
uranium hexafluoride (DU); consisting of unburned
Generates 17 m3 of solid waste and 310 m3
consumes 300 GW*hr of uranium, transuranics,
of liquid waste
electricity and fission products.

Uranium fuel cycle calculations done using WISE nuclear fuel material calculator: http://www.wise-uranium.org/nfcm.html
 Waste generation from 1000 MW*yr thorium-fueled liquid-
fluoride reactor

Mining 200 MT of ore Milling and processing to thorium nitrate ThNO 3 (1 MT Th)
containing 0.5%
thorium (1 MT Th) Generates 0.1 MT of mill tailings and 50 kg of aqueous wastes

Generates ~199 MT of waste rock

Disposal of 0.8 MT of
Conversion to metal and spent fuel consisting
introduction into reactor blanket only of fission product
Breeding to U233 and
fluorides
complete fission

Thorium mining calculation based on date from ORNL/TM-6474: Environmental Assessment of Alternate FBR Fuels: Thorium
 Pemanfaatan Thorium di Indonesia

Thorium ditemukan dan tersedia cukup melimpah di indonesia

(sekitar 117 ribu ton; cukup untuk menyalakan PLTT 1GWe
sekitar 117 buah untuk 1000 tahun)
Selama ini baru Badan Tenaga Nuklir Nasional (Batan) yang
melakukan riset untuk Thorium. Menurutnya, sejumlah wilayah
yang berpotensi memiliki sumber (resource) Thorium antara lain
Bangka Belitong (Babel), Kalimantan Barat (Kalbar) dan Sulawesi
Barat (Sulbar).
BATAN berencana membangun PLTN (jenis HTGR) mini non
komersial (RDE 30 MW, reaktor nuklir generasi IV) di Serpong
yang ditargetkan akan beroperasi tahun 2019 dan kemungkinan
menggunakan BB Thorium (selain uranium)
Perkembangan Pembangkit Listrik Thorium di Indonesia

Perkembangan PLTT di Indonesia telah mulai dikembangkan

yakni salah satunya adalah penekenan MoU oleh pemerintah (PT
INUKI, PT PLN dan PT Pertamina) dengan Thorcon Power guna
mengembangkan MSRE (Molten Salt Reactor Experiment) skala
pilot (posisi reaktor 30 m dibawah muka tanah; beratnya 150-500
ton; perlu 200 blok untuk daya 1 Gwe) yang akan menghasilkan
listrik sekitar 3-5 sen US$/Kwh, dan pembangunan hanya perlu
satu tahun untuk membangun reaktor Thorium 1GWe.
 PLTT di Indonesia

Tujuan konsursium diatas adalah untuk mengembangkan dan

memanfaatkan reaktor garam cair thorium komersial berdasarkan
desain Thorcon. PLTT tersebut dijadwalkan akan dikomisioning
tahun 2021.
 PLTT di Indonesia

Thorium Power Canada (TPC, mengadopsi teknologi ThO2 padat

milik DBI, $2juta/MW, dapat dibangun dalam waktu 2-3 tahun)
dengan kapasitas 25 MW di indonesia. Proyek tersebut
berencana akan memasok tenaga listrik ke PLN. Kemudian dapat
dijual antara 4-7 sent/kwh dan dapat dibuat seri hingga (25 x 40)
1000 MW.
 PLTT di Indonesia

Desain PLTT lainya adalah dari perusahaan Moltex Energy, yang

mengenalkan SSR (Stable Salt Reactor), BB Thorium Fluorida
berbentuk garam cair molten thorium. Daya yang ditawarkan
sekitar 300 MW dengan harga <2$/W, atau sekitar 8 triliun.
 Tantangan Pengembangan Thorium di Indonesia

Pertama, thorium tidak dapat berdiri sendiri sebagai bahan bakar.

Thorium membutuhkan uranium 235 agar dapat dikonversi
menjadi uranium 232 dan siap digunakan sebagai sumber energi.
Maka pengembangan thorium mau tak mau harus lebih dulu
dimulai dengan pengembangan uranium
Kedua, pemanfaatan thorium untuk energi masih membutuhkan
waktu yang lama. Penelitian sudah dilakukan di berbagai negara,
namun belum pernah ada negara yang secara penuh
mengaplikasikan secara komersial.
Ketiga, adalah kurangnya dana untuk penelitian dan
pengembangan thorium. Untuk pendataan potensi thorium saja
dibutuhkan Rp 3 miliar per tahun. Lalu untuk penelitiannya dari
awal hingga akhir diperkirakan dibutuhkan dana US$ 299 juta
atau Rp 3,9 triliun
 Kesimpulan

Torium memberikan kita banyak pilihan untuk keamanan, tenaga

nuklir, ketahanan ekonomi yang dapat bertahan selama ribuan
atau bahkan jutaan tahun.

teknologi reaktor fluoride menawarkan pilihan nyata untuk

memecahkan masalah jangka panjang yang menghabiskan
bahan bakar nuklir dan akhirnya mencegah pembentukan limbah
transuranic baru.