Liquid Fluorite Thorium Reactors

[4iner]

Short summary video of the technology: www.youtube.com/watch?v=eU3cUssuz-U

In depth video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZR0UKxNPh8&feature=channel_video_title

Articles:
www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/7970619/Obama-could-kill-fossil-fuels-overnight-with-a-nuclear-dash-for-thorium.html

www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/8393984/Safe-nuclear-does-exist-and-China-is-leading-the-way-with-thorium.html

This is a proven technology that is even safer and is more simple than standard nuclear power.

Thorium is very abundant and has much more potential energy than uranium, and it's extremely difficult if not impossible to use for a nuclear bomb. The reactor can also use nuclear "waste" as fuel.

As far as I know, there are no major drawbacks, but there would obviously be some capital investment needed. The only argument against it I've seen, a "fact sheet" produced by the IEER (which cited no sources), has be completely debunked.

Thoughts? Questions?

[Ryan]

This, like nuclear energy, is unsustainable.

[4iner]

Apr 8, 2011 23:50:03 GMT -5 Ryan said:

This, like nuclear energy, is unsustainable.

Thorium is three times more abundant than uranium, and it would only take an amount of thorium about the size of a golf ball to give enough energy for a person for their entire life. This means that the U.S. reserves could meet our energy needs for over 1000 years. We would have more than enough time during that period to either go out and mine more thorium in asteroids and planets, or (more practically) get renewable energy more economically feasible and switch over to that.

[Ryan]

While that is true - why would we invest in unsustainable energy now - when we could just invest in sustainable ones? Temporary fixes are just patches, use too many and eventually the flood will come. Build a new damn, don't patch the one that's falling apart.

[Alex]

loldamn