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The ever-growing demand for energy has led to investigate various possibilities of using renewable sources of energy and other lesser explored energy resources. Power generation through radioactive materials have always been lucrative. Nuclear power generation mostly uses controlled chain fission process. Reactors widely use 235 U fissile fuel, whose fission releases energy and neutrons that maintain the chain reaction. However due to fast depleting uranium resources some alternative nuclear fuels are being explored. Thorium occurring naturally is another fertile element that can be converted to 233 U isotope by slow neutrons. 233 U (considered as third fuel) is the only other known fissile material (T1/2=1.59×10 5 y). Using 232 Th as a nuclear fuel has many advantages over conventional nuclear power reactors using 235 U or 239 Pu as fuel. Over the last four decades there has been interest in utilizing Th as a nuclear fuel since all of the mined thorium is potentially useable in a reactor, compared with the 0.7% of natural uranium in today's reactors, so some 40 times the amount of energy per unit mass might theoretically be available. In India, several reactors use thorium based fuels.

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