Sunday, January 16, 2011
Thorium Reactor, Nuclear Energy of the Future
From Popular Science, Development of Tiny Thorium Reactors Could Wean the World Off Oil In Just Five YearsFrom the Thorium Energy Alliance, T.E.A Portal
Safe Nuclear Energy from Thorium.
1) One ton of Thorium can produce as much energy as 200 tons of Uranium.
2) Thorium is more abundant than Uranium.
3) Thorium reactors run by acceleration from a proton beam, remove the beam and the nuclear reaction stops.
4) Thorium reactors can consume radioactive waste from Uranium powered plants making storage of Uranium waste from current nuclear plants obsolete.
5) You can not harvest weapon grade uranium from a Thorium reactor making the process friendly to non-proliferation treaties.
6) Waste from Thorium reactors is no longer radioactive after 200 years compared to waste Uranium which is no longer radioactive after 10,000 years.
With oil approaching $100 per barrel and the advent of electric cars, Thorium nuclear reactors just make sense.
Posted by Steve on 01/16 at 10:46 PM
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