Posted on 01/06/2013 6:14:36 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
The Chinese are running away with thorium energy, sharpening a global race for the prize of clean, cheap, and safe nuclear power. Good luck to them. They may do us all a favour.
Princeling Jiang Mianheng, son of former leader Jiang Zemin, is spearheading a project for China's National Academy of Sciences with a start-up budget of $350m.
He has already recruited 140 PhD scientists, working full-time on thorium power at the Shanghai Institute of Nuclear and Applied Physics. He will have 750 staff by 2015.
The aim is to break free of the archaic pressurized-water reactors fueled by uranium -- originally designed for US submarines in the 1950s -- opting instead for new generation of thorium reactors that produce far less toxic waste and cannot blow their top like Fukushima...
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Smart! It must be nice to not have to put up with the green movement and their moronic stupidity.
There was a study showing that 18% of the mercury in Oregon came from Chinese air polution. And considering the crappy quality of their products, the prospect of a Chinese nuclear meltdown just keeps growing. Not good.
Not cobalt thorium G, I hope :)
Someone needs to start talking about this now. We have enough thorium in Idaho to power America for thousands of years.
That's very generous of us. I'm sure they will return the favor (/s)
No, just ordinary thorium. US Engineers have been trying to develop this technology for years but have been hobbled by - guess who; Dept. of Energy, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, others.
Kirk sorenson is saddened, he has been screaming that we need to do this very thing with thorium and no one has listened.....
bump
We should move on it. From what I understand there is no need for pressured water reactors, meaning the gigantic steel and concrete vaults are not necessary. Much cheaper to build and much safer.
Shorter half lives, and cannot be weaponized.
The reason the US had abandoned it was due to its lack of military value.
Karl Denninger's suggestion was to have Navy nuclear specialists run thorium reactor power plants on US military bases - effectively bypassing all of those idiots.
The military is very interested in the promise of this technology, but restrained by their civilian bosses. There is an excellent 10-minute introduction to the concept by Kirk Sorenson: www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2vzotsvvkw
Check out these links if you want more:
thoriumenergyalliance.com/ThoriumSite/portal.html
energyfromthorium.com/
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.