Thorium

Thorium is named after Thor, the Norse god of thunder. Discovered in 1829 by Jöns Jacob Berzelius in a mineral sent to him from Norway, thorium is a slightly radioactive metal that is about three times more abundant in Earth's crust than uranium. For a while, thorium was used in gas lantern mantles — the bright white glow of camping lanterns came from thorium oxide.

Thorium is being researched as an alternative nuclear fuel. Thorium reactors could potentially produce energy with less long-lived radioactive waste and are harder to use for making nuclear weapons compared to uranium. Thorium dioxide has the highest melting point of any oxide at 3,300 degrees Celsius and is used in high-temperature ceramics and special camera lenses.

Thorium's symbol 'Th' is one of the most useful two-letter elements in Spellement. It matches the incredibly common English letter pair that begins words like 'the,' 'that,' 'this,' and 'think.' Since 'th' is one of the most frequent two-letter combinations in English, thorium is a word-building superstar.