To meet its rapidly growing energy demand, some opine that India should pursue research and development on thorium as the future fuel of nuclear energy. In this context, what advantage does thorium hold over uranium?<br/>1. Thorium is far more abundant in nature than uranium.<br/>2. On the basis of per unit mass of mined mineral, thorium can generate more energy compared to natural uranium.<br/>3. Thorium produces less harmful waste compared to uranium.<br/><br/>Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1. Thorium is far more abundant in nature than uranium. — Correct. Thorium is about 3–4 times more abundant in the Earth’s crust than uranium, and India has significant thorium reserves in monazite sands.

2. On the basis of per unit mass of mined mineral, thorium can generate more energy compared to natural uranium. — Correct. Natural uranium contains only about 0.7% fissile U-235, whereas thorium can be bred efficiently into fissile U-233; hence, per unit mined resource, thorium has higher energy potential.

3. Thorium produces less harmful waste compared to uranium. — Correct. The thorium fuel cycle generally produces lower quantities of long-lived transuranic actinides than the uranium-plutonium cycle, making the waste burden comparatively less harmful.

Therefore, all three statements are correct.