Consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Answer: (d) Neither 1 nor 2

India has plenty of thorium; monazite is a thorium, not uranium, source.

Statement by statement

1. ✗ WRONG India has large thorium reserves in monazite sands — among the world’s biggest.

2. ✗ WRONG Monazite contains thorium; uranium in it is only a trace. The key treats this as wrong.

The idea

A mineral’s main economic use is different from its complete chemical composition. Thorium and uranium are separate radioactive elements, and a mineral can carry traces of more than one element. “Contains uranium” is therefore broader than “is a useful uranium ore”.

Thorium-232 absorbs a neutron → Thorium-233 forms → Radioactive decay produces protactinium-233 → Further decay produces uranium-233 → Uranium-233 can undergo fission

Why the others are wrong

(a) Accepts no thorium.

(b) Accepts uranium in monazite.

(c) Accepts both.

The trap

Monazite has tiny traces of uranium, so statement 2 is tricky — the key treats monazite as a thorium mineral.

Also know

Jaduguda in Jharkhand and Tummalapalle in Andhra Pradesh are uranium anchors. Thorium-232 is fertile: it can be converted into fissile uranium-233 in a reactor system. A thorium resource does not mean that thorium alone can directly sustain a conventional reactor.