Alternative Nuclear Power

[Taem]

I was sitting in a waiting room for my car battery to arrive and the mechanic to install it when I read something in Popular Mechanic's 2012 October issue which I cannot find online for some reason.

In short, it said that Thorium makes a great alternative nuclear fuel, and had an entire write up about how keeping Thorium rods in fluoride (or something with that name) doubles its energy output making it twice as efficient as Uranium.

Anyways, if your interested, read: THIS
Although, that is not the link I read, but still quite informative.

Some raw facts: HERE

and on the liquid fluoride reactor: HERE

Based on what I've read, this could really be a safe alternative to uranium that is incapable of producing weapons of mass destruction, and is twice as efficient as producing energy as uranium. I really think THIS is the way of the future for the entire world, and a way all countries could have access to unlimited power without threat of nuclear annihilation. This could really change the world!

**FUN FACT**
Doctors used to use plutonium powered pace makers because of the long half-life guaranteed the patient would not die because his battery cut-out! Read about it: HERE

[Occhidiangela]

We've been 25 years away from usable fusion for the power grid, for about 50 years now.

While all nuclear reactions have some waste products, and hazardous materials involved, this looks like a promising alternative.

Who is licensing and building these systems?

[Lissa]

We've been 25 years away from usable fusion for the power grid, for about 50 years now.

While all nuclear reactions have some waste products, and hazardous materials involved, this looks like a promising alternative.

Who is licensing and building these systems?

It's doubtful they'll be made because they're breeder reactors which breaches the NPT. While it's a nice idea, because we can't reprocess and you have weapons grade material from this type of reactor, our hands are basically tied.

[Taem]

http://www.newscientist.com/mobile/artic...loser.html

India is poised to make the first one. We'll see how it goes.

EDIT: Sorry, that link was for Occhi, but I was doing it from my phone and it didn't work as I intended.

[Occhidiangela]

http://www.newscientist.com/mobile/artic...loser.html

India is poised to make the first one. We'll see how it goes.

EDIT: Sorry, that link was for Occhi, but I was doing it from my phone and it didn't work as I intended.

Thanks!

One of the topics in my Reactor Physics course in college was thorium reactors. Glad to see that they are alive and well, and also that BS remains a part of the public dialogue. That said, thorium reactors are not a non choice, they are a choice with risks to manage, just like any reactor based energy plant.

No
Free
Lunch

[Lissa]

Exactly Occhi. I hear all these things about how great Thorium reactors are as well as learning about them in my courses. My professors liked some of the pros, but they also realized the cons of it (if someone really wants to get the fissile material for bombs, they'll figure out some way to deal with the hazards to extract it). Likewise, there are plenty of inherintely safe designs out there that have been created in the last 20 years that take acts of sabotage to meltdown even with using things like PWRs (and that is only one small part of the overall reactor designs out there like the HTGR). Likewise, there's always waste, as much as the people who are pro-Thorium want to say otherwise. Simply, Thorium reactors are not a silver bullet for nuclear power (if they were, they would be all over the place by now, hint, they're not).