Is Thorium The Key To Safe Nuclear Power?
The Thorium Dream Documentary
In this new documentary from Motherboard.tv the nuclear power debate takes a look into a previously cast aside idea of Thorium-fueled reactors. The proposal for Thorium germinated in the 1960s at the the U.S. government’s Oak Ridge atomic lab in Tennessee. The movement toward Thorium was eventually reversed as Uranium stole the show.
However, the second wave is nigh for Thorium advocates, and with help from internet archives and the wonders of viral web media, Thorium is now a “hype” word. It is supposedly a much safer and more abundant chemical element than its nuclear counterparts – largely because it is not a terrorist target (no Plutonium is generated), extraction is much more simple than Uranium, it is liquid fuel (not solid state) and is far more easily managed during reactions, and the fuel emissions are miniscule in comparison to Uranium.
The thorium story, then, is not just one of new opportunities, but a cautionary tale about the mistakes we make on the paths we take. They aren’t always paths toward progress, but with the right guides, and the right questions, new trails might be blazed – hopefully in better ways and toward better directions than the previous ones. [source]
The video below outlines the frustrations that Thorium promotors face as large flocks of engineers and energy scientists begin to realize that nuclear energy is now necessary for the planet. They believe that Thorium will power the entire world and could have made USA energy independent around the turn of the century. Did humanity miss out on the perfect energy remedy in Thorium? You decide…
That's exactly the kind of questions we need to ask and the type of research we need to make. Excellent prospect!
….could it be… hopeful__
until the nuclear reactors will be equivalent to a can of petrol, will know which lights up the surface layer of bemzina, hoping that the bin does not catch fire, the reactors can never be assured. I think, thank God that the incidents were fortunately very few, very few compared to the odds
I would like to see some serious VC or government funding into creating a LFTR pilot project and onward to a commercially viable system. China is doing it, why can't we?
[...] and self-importance that got us in trouble in the first place. We need to help it forge a truly new future that will not fall prey to the same atavisms – and if it does, to at least do so on the [...]