I’ve watched Obama and other world leaders discuss energy alternatives. They all say wind, solar, etc just can’t meet our needs. They’re partially right but that’s largely because efforts haven’t been made. Germany powers itself by a record 7% solar energy however with targets of 35% and 50% in 2030 and 2050 respectively. However, even more insidious, there is a technology from the 60’s which decidedly solves our energy crisis: Thorium.
Energy is by far the most pressing issue facing humanity right now. Our current production and use of energy is damaging and destroying the planet. The technology for cheap and clean energy has long existed in the form of Thorium.
During the advent of nuclear technologies, there were 3 main fuels considered. Thorium was one of them. “Regrettably” it doesn’t produce plutonium needed to construct nuclear weapons. The technology was abandoned in favour of fuels that do produce plutonium. Nuclear energy is not currently safe. If you need evidence see the Pacific Ocean (see below). However, nuclear energy is not safe because the original designers had their hands tied to technologies which produced plutonium for weapons. Had that not been the case, they likely would have chosen Thorium (the scientists were lobbying for its use) and Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima would never have happened.
The Fukushima reactor is currently undergoing the ‘china syndrome’ and will eventually melt its way down into the core of the earth. The fukushima reactor is decidedly, not a thorium reactor. If Fukushima was a thorium reactor, it would have shut down itself when power was cut. There is no need for constant power (coolant pumps) to control the reaction. In absence of power (coolant pumps) the reaction stops.
Fukushima has irradiated the entire Pacific Ocean, even though it’s receiving minimal media attention:
Thorium’s Safety
Ostensibly, Thorium is ‘proliferation safe’. That is to say, we can safely spread this technology around the world without giving rogue nations access to a potential source of nuclear weapons. Recent articles say this isn’t necessarily the case ( http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/energy/a11907/is-the-superfuel-thorium-riskier-than-we-thought-14821644/ ) thorium is certainly less proliferation ‘risky’ than other technologies.
Aside from the safety of proliferation, it’s waste profile is an order of magnitude better than any other fuel. In fact, it can be used to consume other nuclear waste.
Edward Teller, the father of the h-bomb wrote in his final paper:
This paper addresses the problems posed by running out of oil and gas supplies and the environmental problems that are due to greenhouse gases by suggesting the use of the energy available in the resource thorium, which is much more plentiful than the conventional nuclear fuel uranium. We propose the burning of this thorium dissolved as a fluoride in molten salt in the minimum viscosity mixture of LiF and BeF2 together with a small amount of 235U or plutonium fluoride to initiate the process to be located at least 10 m underground. The fission products could be stored at the same underground location. With graphite replacement or new cores and with the liquid fuel transferred to the new cores periodically, the power plant could operate for up to 200 yr with no transport of fissile material to the reactor or of wastes from the reactor during this period.Advantages that include utilization of an abundant fuel, inaccessibility of that fuel to terrorists or for diversion to weapons use, together with good economics and safety features such as an underground location will diminish public concerns. We call for the construction of a small prototype thorium-burning reactor. (my emphasis)
It is very important for all of us to educate ourselves in the field of energy. We cannot allow statements such as “there is currently no alternative to fossil fuels” go unchallenged.
Summary of Thorium
Here is a great summary of Thorium technology.
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Our dreams, our future have arrived. The only thing we lack is the realization and hope that our world can be better.
