Many of the great inventions and products have trickled down from NASA space exploration and the military, such as microwave ovens, computers and the Internet. Scientists knew years ago that thorium was a much safer element than uranium for energy reactors, but the military influenced the government to pass, because plutonium from uranium was required for nuclear bombs and missiles. Of course there are other political reasons. And they didn't have the type of reactor required, I gather. Much of this is over my head but... Nonetheless, thorium is easy to access and there's so much of it in the world. China, evidently, is moving ahead with thorium power. The Chinese aren't the only ones... but not America , from what I am aware of, because Barack Hussein Obama's regime invested in and promoted solar energy, which is a bust for now. Safe nuclear does exist, and China is leading the way with thorium - Ambrose Evans-Pritchard http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/...nd-China-is-leading-the-way-with-thorium.html Is Thorium the Biggest Energy Breakthrough Since Fire? Possibly. http://www.forbes.com/sites/william...gest-energy-breakthrough-since-fire-possibly/ Why didnt thorium reactors happen? http://energyfromthorium.com/ Why didnt it happen? Short answerbecause all of the political, technological, and financial focus was on the liquid-metal fast breeder reactor. Later on, due to fears about non-proliferation, the US cancelled plans to commercially reprocess spent nuclear fuel to extract plutonium, and the case for the fast breeder reactor was toast. Because there were no fast breeder reactors to take all the plutonium that had been generated from light-water reactors, in 1982 the US government passed the Nuclear Waste Policy Act and started collecting a tax that would be intended to pay for what would eventually become Yucca Mountain. If you have the time watch and listen to this video. The Thorium Molten-Salt Reactor: Why Didn't This Happen (and why is now the right time?) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbyr7jZOllI&feature=player_embedded#! Following is another interesting reason to consider thorium: The Celente Solution: If Iran is sincere that it seeks only peaceful uses for its nuclear energy, the crisis can easily be defused. The problem isnt that Iran seeks nuclear power. The problem is that, like the rest of the world, Iran has made a poor choice of nuclear fuel. Uranium, the fuel that runs the worlds nuclear reactors, is lethal even when its not packed in a bomb. Its absurdly complicated to handle, its behavior is touchy and unpredictable, and its waste is fatal to humans for millions of years after weve wrung the small amount of energy from it that our technology allows. Instead, Iran can follow the lead of China, India, Brazil, and other nations and turn to thorium As is often the case, the current crisis is an opportunity. If Iran truly wants only peaceful nuclear power, it can choose thorium as its nuclear option and the US, Israel, the EU and other nations can choose peace." Gerald Celente, Trends Journal Publisher and Trends Research Institute Director www.trendsresearch.com
From what I read they had one running back in the 50s or 60s for 5 years. They ended up picking the Uranium reactors because they could get weapons grade material from them that you can't get from Thorium reactors. Why the US isn't pursuing this is beyond me. Probably the dumbass ethanol pushing environmentalists again.
There's really no excuse for not investing in Thorium power - it's the nuclear fuel of the future. If Obama would pull his head out of his ass, he'd find that Lightbridge Corporation is operating right across the Potomac in Virginia: http://www.ltbridge.com/
Well this seems simple and cheap. And it doesn't involve pie in the sky wishful thinking. Our allies already have massive reprocessing facilities that they use routinely. Why not start there before launching a bunch of new reactors?
