MINERAL AND ENERGY RESOURCES IN INDIA
MINERALS
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Question
[CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
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A. Bauxite
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B. Thorium
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C. Petroleum
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D Iron ore
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Detailed explanation-1: -Uranium and Thorium, which are available in Jharkhand and the Aravalli ranges of Rajasthan, are used for generating atomic or nuclear power. Thorium is more abundant in nature than uranium.
Detailed explanation-2: -Uranium is the fuel most widely used to produce nuclear energy. That’s because uranium atoms split apart relatively easily. Uranium is also a very common element, found in rocks all over the world.
Detailed explanation-3: -Uranium is used in nuclear reactors to generate electrical power.
Detailed explanation-4: -It is not possible to build a nuclear reactor using Thorium (Thorium-232) alone due to its physics characteristics. Thorium has to be converted to Uranium-233 in a reactor before it can be used as fuel.
Detailed explanation-5: -Lastly, thorium is used as nuclear energy fuel, but is not as efficient a fuel as uranium, and the technology to properly utilize it is not yet available. The most stable isotope of thorium has a half-life of 14, 000, 000, 000 years.