Thorium: Criticality

Why thorium appears on no critical list

What this tab covers How exposed economies are to a supply disruption: the EU, US and India listings, the concentration score, and a quantified exposure for the US, EU, India, China, Japan, Latin America, the Middle East and Australia. Where the EU scored it, a chart of supply risk against economic importance, with import reliance, recycling input and substitutes.

Exposure by region

Region	Exposure	Share of world output	Share of world imports	Share of world exports	Net trade (US$)	On own critical list	Position
US	n/a	–	–	–	–	No	Recovers no thorium, imports compounds from France (51%) and India (47%), and holds about 600,000 t of identified resources (USGS 2026).
EU	n/a	–	–	–	–	No	France stores thousands of tonnes of thorium from past monazite processing (Pitron 2020) and supplies thorium compounds; thorium is not assessed in EU CRM 2023.
India	n/a	–	–	–	–	No	Holds the largest identified resource (850,000 t Th), mines monazite through IREL, and reached stage 2 of its three-stage nuclear programme when the PFBR went critical on 6 April 2026 (USGS 2026; PIB).
China	n/a	–	–	–	–	No	Is the leading importer of monazite, mainly from Nigeria, Madagascar, Thailand and Indonesia, and runs thorium reactor R&D (USGS 2026).
Japan	n/a	–	–	–	–	No	Has a thorium R&D programme but no reported production (USGS 2026).
Latin America	n/a	–	–	–	–	no list	Brazil holds about 630,000 t of identified thorium resources and runs thorium R&D (USGS 2026).
Middle East	n/a	–	–	–	–	no list	Israel has a thorium R&D programme; no production is reported (USGS 2026).
Australia	n/a	–	–	–	–	No	Holds about 600,000 t of identified resources in mineral sands and runs thorium R&D (USGS 2026).

Exposure rating: High when the region is a net importer whose import share is at least three times its share of world output (or, for farm goods, it produces under 70% of what it consumes); Medium for other net importers (or 70-95% self-sufficiency), raised to High when world supply is highly concentrated in another country; Low for net exporters or self-sufficient regions. Net importer status uses tonnage where reported, otherwise value. Output: n/a. Trade: UN Comtrade (EU = sum of member states, including intra-EU trade). Critical lists: US 2025, EU 2024/1252, India 2023, China 2016 strategic minerals, Japan METI, Australia 2024.

Thorium is not on the US 2025 or India 2023 critical lists and is not assessed by the EU. Demand is small, and USGS lists non-radioactive substitutes for most uses. Yttrium compounds replace it in lamp mantles, and magnesium alloys with lanthanides, yttrium and zirconium replace magnesium-thorium alloys in aerospace. Cerium, lanthanum, yttrium or zirconium oxides work in welding electrodes. Its strategic interest is as a possible fuel. India, with the largest resources, has long built its nuclear plans around thorium.

EU 2023 Not assessed US 2025 list No India 2023 list No

Substitutes

Yttrium compounds in lamp mantles; magnesium-lanthanide-yttrium-zirconium alloys; cerium, lanthanum, yttrium and zirconium oxides in welding electrodes; yttrium fluoride in optical coatings