北京的地质学家声称，中国发现了一种“无穷无尽”的能源，可以为全国提供 6 万年的电力。
据报道，一项全国性调查发现，中国北方自治区内蒙古的白云鄂博矿区蕴藏的钍矿足以“几乎永远”满足中国家庭的能源需求。
据《南华早报》获得了一份解密的调查报告，科学家估计，如果充分利用该矿区，可产出 100 万吨钍。
该研究称，中国采矿废料中的钍资源“完全未开发”，如果开采得当，其储量将足以结束全球对化石燃料的依赖。
研究人员进一步声称，内蒙古一处铁矿区五年的采矿废料中含有的钍足以满足美国 1000 多年的能源需求。
研究发现，全国有233个富钍带，如果结果准确，则意味着中国钍储量大大超过此前估计。
中国已开始建设世界首座钍熔盐核电站，此前人们认为钍储量足以满足2万年的能源需求。
世界核协会称，钍在自然界中比铀更容易找到，而且能产生比铀多200倍的能量。
China has discovered an ‘endless’ energy source that could supply enough fuel to power the country for 60,000 years, geologists in Beijing have claimed.
The Bayan Obo mining complex in Inner Mongolia, an autonomous region of northern China, could contain enough thorium to supply China’s household energy demands ‘almost forever’, a national survey reportedly found.
Scientists estimate the mining complex could yield 1 million tonnes of thorium if fully exploited, according to The South China Post, which obtained a declassified report of the survey.
The study has claimed that thorium resources in the country’s mining waste ‘remain totally untouched’ and if properly extracted could be large enough to end the worldwide dependence on fossil fuels.
Researchers further allege that five years’ worth of mining waste from an iron ore site in Inner Mongolia contains enough thorium to meet American energy demands for over 1,000 years.
The study identified 233 thorium-rich zones across the country and, if accurate, suggests that thorium reserves in China significantly exceed previous estimates.
China, which has started to build the world’s first thorium molten salt nuclear power station, was previously believed to have enough thorium reserves to meet its energy needs for 20,000 years.
Thorium is more readily found in nature than uranium, and can also generate 200 times more energy than uranium, according to the World Nuclear Association.
