China creating clean nuclear power with Thorium nuclear reactors

[Phokus]

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/02/china-thorium-power/

So we've had this shit since the 60's and 70's but we went with Uranium probably because of fucking nuclear weapons. What a fuckup.

In the 1960s and 70s, the United States carried out extensive research on thorium and MSRs at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. That work was abandoned — partly, believe many, because uranium reactors generated bomb-grade plutonium as a byproduct. Today, with nuclear weapons less in demand and cheap oil’s twilight approaching, several countries — including India, France and Norway — are pursuing thorium-based nuclear-fuel cycles. (The grassroots movement to promote an American thorium power supply was covered in this December 2009 Wired magazine feature.)

Benefits of Thorium:

Key benefits
According to Australian science writer Tim Dean, "thorium promises what uranium never delivered: abundant, safe and clean energy - and a way to burn up old radioactive waste."[16] With a thorium nuclear reactor, Dean stresses a number of added benefits: there is no possibility of a meltdown, it generates power inexpensively, it does not produce weapons-grade by-products, and will burn up existing high-level waste as well as nuclear weapon stockpiles.[16] Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, of the British Telegraph daily, suggests that "Obama could kill fossil fuels overnight with a nuclear dash for thorium," and could put "an end to our dependence on fossil fuels within three to five years."[14]

The Thorium Energy Alliance (TEA), an educational advocacy organization, emphasizes that "there is enough thorium in the United States alone to power the country at its current energy level for over 1,000 years." [17] Reducing coal as an energy source, according to science expert Lester R. Brown of The Earth Policy Institute in Washington DC, would significantly reduce medical costs from breathing coal pollutants. Brown estimates that coal-related deaths and diseases are currently costing the U.S. up to $160 billion annually."[18]

While China is an oppressive regime, there is a benefit to a 1 party rule: There's less red tape to do these types of projects.

 

[yllus]

One reason why I think it's important to remember that government agencies need not always have a positive cash flow is that research on stuff like this is going to cost a lot and will never be recouped by the government itself, but the expertise that filters down will be well worth it.

Canada's government is looking for buyers for our atomic energy organization, AECL. It could use private oversight to shake off the excess weight in it, but parts of it simply need to be run in a not-for-profit manner. Unfortunately politicians rarely take the long view.

 

[Lizardman]

This will not be the first time politics has held back great technological advances from our society. I am not surprised by this one at all. I have read over the years about many differnet reactor designs which are much safer then what we are using now (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pebble_bed_reactor).

Hopefully our fearless leaders can implement a worth while solution in our life times... I am every hopeful....

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Obama getting rid of fossil fuels? Energy independence? Heh, not bloody likely. If someone came up with Mr. Fusion we'd find a way to make it more expensive and unreliable that it needs be.

 

[PeshakJang]

Nuclear isn't "green", so 100% certainty this will not happen anytime soon.

 

[Patranus]

.....And America is held hostage to the earth nazis.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

.....And America is held hostage to the earth nazis.

I'm calling BS. Carter had a research plan after the Oil Embargo, and one of the first things Ron R. did was kill it. The Republicans will no more support this than the "earth nazis", being the "oil autocrats".

 

[glenn1]

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/02/china-thorium-power/

So we've had this shit since the 60's and 70's but we went with Uranium probably because of fucking nuclear weapons. What a fuckup.

Benefits of Thorium:

While China is an oppressive regime, there is a benefit to a 1 party rule: There's less red tape to do these types of projects.

Isn't this basically the technology ("breeder reactor" or nuclear reprocessing) that President Carter banned because of fears of nuclear proliferation?

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Isn't this basically the technology ("breeder reactor" or nuclear reprocessing) that President Carter banned because of fears of nuclear proliferation?

Nope, not even close.

 

[Phokus]

.....And America is held hostage to the earth nazis.

Actually, a big reason why we don't get these new reactors is because of the coal lobby.

 

[Phokus]

Isn't this basically the technology ("breeder reactor" or nuclear reprocessing) that President Carter banned because of fears of nuclear proliferation?

"there is no possibility of a meltdown, it generates power inexpensively, it does not produce weapons-grade by-products, and will burn up existing high-level waste as well as nuclear weapon stockpiles."

Uranium reactors are what you're thinking of

 

[ShawnD1]

Actually, a big reason why we don't get these new reactors is because of the coal lobby.

no no no no no no no no

It was always about retards not wanting nuclear reactors by their houses. The word "nuclear" was even removed from Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging (now called MRI). People are stupid as fuck.

 

[sunzt]

no no no no no no no no

It was always about retards not wanting nuclear reactors by their houses. The word "nuclear" was even removed from Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging (now called MRI). People are stupid as fuck.

It's probably due to both.

The politics of this country (democracy) enables it so that ordinary voters without proper information can hamper the development and innovation of new technologies.

The economic system of this country (corporatism/partial-capitalism) enables it so that those with vast amounts of wealth can hamper the development and innovation of new technologies that threaten their wealth.

Welcome to America.

 

[feralkid]

.....And America is held hostage to the earth nazis.

Wrong again.
It's not the fearsome hippies and greenies you hide under your bed from.

It's the lack of financing that is killing plans for more nuclear.

Wall Street will not touch it. Too expensive, risky and long term for their taste.

 

[Brovane]

From my understanding commercial nuclear reactors do not generate weapons grade plutonium as a by product. They do generate plutonium but not weapons grade. The US used specialized reactors to produce weapons grade plutonium, not commercial power reactors. The entire article smells fishy to me that someone is playing fast and loose with the facts.

 

[PeshakJang]

Wrong again.
It's not the fearsome hippies and greenies you hide under your bed from.

It's the lack of financing that is killing plans for more nuclear.

Wall Street will not touch it. Too expensive, risky and long term for their taste.

And why do you think they have been so cost-prohibitive and uncertain?

 

[Hacp]

Blame Peta and Environmentalists. Julia Roberts is responsible too.

 

[Darwin333]

From my understanding commercial nuclear reactors do not generate weapons grade plutonium as a by product. They do generate plutonium but not weapons grade. The US used specialized reactors to produce weapons grade plutonium, not commercial power reactors. The entire article smells fishy to me that someone is playing fast and loose with the facts.

When we burn coal we release a LOT more energy into the atmosphere from the thorium in it than we actually get from burning the coal.

Thorium reactors not only don't produce any uranium or plutonium that could be used in weapons but it fucks up any uranium or plutonium you put in so that it can't be used to make bombs either. I am not a nuclear anything so if I am wrong someone please correct me but that is what I recall reading and hearing about.

 

[Darwin333]

Blame Peta and Environmentalists. Julia Roberts is responsible too.

Absolutely nothing to do with why we didn't explore Thorium reactors. It was the bombs bud.

Granted, at the time that was understandable but we still refuse to fund significant research into Thorium reactors.

 

[Brovane]

When we burn coal we release a LOT more energy into the atmosphere from the thorium in it than we actually get from burning the coal.

Thorium reactors not only don't produce any uranium or plutonium that could be used in weapons but it fucks up any uranium or plutonium you put in so that it can't be used to make bombs either. I am not a nuclear anything so if I am wrong someone please correct me but that is what I recall reading and hearing about.

The assertion in the article that we abandoned Thorium reactors because we wanted to produce more nuclear material strikes me as false. From what I can discover we abandoned Thorium reactor development because everything with the world nuclear became bad in the 70's.

 

[ElFenix]

have we even made any new nuclear weapons since 1980? our peak stockpile was in 1967.

 

[Atreus21]

Thorium Fuel Cells? What's next? Xentronium Armor?

Sorry. Inner nerd will not be restrained.

 

[Strk]

I believe thorium reactors are all heavy water based and are therefore banned in this country.

 

[feralkid]

Blame Peta and Environmentalists. Julia Roberts is responsible too.

Wrong.

It's all about capital and investment returns.

Do you ever think, read or research before you post?

 

[Lanyap]

Sounds fishy. Too easy. Mr Obama would have presented this solution before now. Unless he was waiting to use this as our "Sputnik Moment"