India has a big chunk of the world's supply of thorium, so this would be a good thing for them.
The only drawback from thorium reactors is that the waste generated is much worse than that from U/Pu reactors.
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if we are talking about lftr reactors —this is 100% false.
The waste from lftr reactors is something on the order of 1% of the waste from light water uranium reactor. Heck the guy who invented light water reactors also invented thorium lftr reactors. Alvin Weinberg was the guy. He went to his grave saying the USA made a terrible mistake when it abandoned the lftr reactors.
And yeah I know both the Indians and the Russians had thorium programs —which they abandoned back in the 70’s & 80’s when the USA abandoned its thorium program.
There’s huge thorium deposits all over the world. But the lftr designs can also be used to burn up radioactive waste from uranium based reactors.
In the case of LFTR waste, it tends to come out “hot” but it decays MUCH more rapidly than conventional LWRs.
In a one year scenario, a 1MgW LFTR reactor will generate a ton of waste of which 83% becomes inert within 10 years. This inert waste can be partitioned off and processed for secondary products such as medical isotopes, precious metals, magnets and gases.
The same can be said when a LFTR is used to burn up nuclear waste from Yucca Mountain. Useful byproducts are created in the burning up process.
Gas waste, such as Xenon and Krypton, can be continuously filtered off due to the fact that a LFTR has a liquid core and gases lift upward.
What people need to realize is that the Thorium decay cycle is quite different than the Uranium decay cycle. That’s whats so awesome about Thorium.
Is Nuclear Waste Really Waste?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rv-mFSoZOkE
Energy From Thorium
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZR0UKxNPh8