Thorium and Molten Salt: The Ultimate Disruptive Technology in a Nutshell
Thorium is a naturally occurring extremely widespread natural element that in the right kind of fission reactor can be used to power the planet more cheaply and safely than coal or even conventional nuclear reactors while generating materials badly needed by the rare earths industry, cancer researchers, and NASA.
It would also allow us to convert existing nuclear waste stockpiles into fuel. What little waste LFTR does produce which we don’t have some other use for, is only dangerous for around 300 years, as opposed to several hundred thousand. This is possible because liquid fueled reactors are far more efficient than solid fuel reactors, which means less radioactivity making it to the environment because LFTRs convert much more of their fuel into heat and electricity.
Why aren’t we using Thorium in this way right now? The answer probably won’t surprise you. Basically the nuclear age was borne of war. LWRs, or light water reactors, the ones used for making bombs and which burn uranium, were more clearly understood and the infrastructure already existed to build and fuel them when the time came to choose a path. MSRs, or molten salt reactors, or the ones that burn thorium, were basically useless for producing weapons grade plutonium, and Westinghouse and GE were not familiar with how to build them. Also they would not have been able to lock utilities into fuel rod purchase contracts. The guy that holds the patent on the light water reactor opposed their use as domestic power generators until the moment he was deposed as head of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, as a result of his constant attacks on the safety of the LWR, his own invention. He is also the inventor of the molten salt reactor and his name is Alvin Weinberg.
For one reason or another, depending on what you are comparing it to, thorium is superior to every other known power source in some critical respect. The moment humanity begins producing LFTRs, or Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors, the future of our species will radically improve.
Which ever country does this first will secure a lasting advantage on the global stage with a subsequent long term positive impact whose scope and intensity can only be guessed at.
This issue is of paramount importance to me. I mean that literally. It is the single most important disruptive technology not already being aggressively pursued. There are three videos you can watch to get yourself on board. They are in order of length and simplicity.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYxlpeJEKmw Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors (LFTR): Energy for the Future? 3:14
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ9Ll5EX1jc Motherboard TV: The Thorium Dream 28:26
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=tyqYP6f66Mw 29:01
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9M__yYbsZ4 LFTR in 5 Minutes – THORIUM REMIX 2011 – An energy solution. 1:59:59
Why is thorium better than…
Solar/Wind: Cheaper, constant power supply, much less area consumed, and fewer transmission lines needed.
Oil: Cheaper, no spills, no wars, no CO2, far less pollution.
Coal: Cheaper, much less radiation, no CO2, far less pollution.
Conventional nuclear: Cheaper, sustainable, less waste, less radiation, no melt downs, no explosions, smaller, easier to build, no need to build near water, no cooling towers, easier to run, more process heat, radically more efficient, abundant fuel, produces extremely useful secondary materials needed for space exploration and cancer research, and breaks the Chinese global rare earth monopoly.
If you would like to know more, and possibly join us in correcting this gargantuan social error please check out Thorium Now, our G+ community. I’m doing my best to make sure it links to every other known Thorium/MSR advocacy effort on the planet. If you know of a group that isn’t listed, please list them.
https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/115460652257293860011
Thorium Now is a group of individuals and organizations convinced that the key to humanity’s immediate and long term energy future is the proper exploitation of the Thorium atom.
See also:
Click to access Sorensen-early-thorium-history.pdf
http://theenergycollective.com/roberthargraves/262916/energy-cost-innovation-liquid-fuel-nuclear-reactors
For an even easier sell: