A Novel Thorium Electric Generator

I was reading the history of coal gas. From there I jumped on the gas mantle (In my childhood street sellers would illuminate their stands with them. It had a warm bright light). I combined what I read from these two articles and came up with a new Thorium electric generator idea.

When heated to incandescence, the thorium volatilizes particularly into radium-224. This is the key to my idea. The powdered thorium oxide would be heated to incandescence using an electric heater. The pressurized heater chamber would be filled with carbon dioxide gas. Then, the heated gas would be used to turn a turbine to generate electricity. The cooled gasses would be pumped back into the heater chamber completing a closed loop. Hopefully, the produced energy would be higher than the energy consumed to heat the Thorium.

Thorium turns into Radium-224 after a series of alpha and beta decays. These decays give off energy as well. The alpha decay is actually an energetic helium atom. During electric generation process the helium would be removed from the loop. Helium is a valuable industrial gas and it would be stored and sold as a valuable by-product of the energy generating plant. The radioactive Radium-224 accumulating besides the heated thorium atoms has a half life of 3.6 days. Which then alpha decays into Radon-220 gas. As a result, the heated chamber would keep heating itself from the alpha and beta decays. The resulting gasses, helium and Radon would be used to turn the turbines besides carbon dioxide (which has a very high vapor pressure). Radon-220 on the other decays into stable lead in less than 12 hours.

Finally, when the thorium oxide completely turns into molten lead, the chamber would be almost free of radioactive particles. The fuel, thorium oxide, would be replenished and the lead would be removed.