Thorium reactor in a nutshell
Liquid fluoride thorium reactor conferences understandable for everyone
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2. seldomseen77 commented 11 years ago
The catch: It's way harder to make bombs with Thorium, so don't expect governments to use it any time soon, sadly.
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5. woodhatch commented 11 years ago
Too common may man the major energy companies will not entertain it because they cannot make a fortune from it.
There again, it may make energy vastly cheaper, but again the energy companies will have an excuse as to why it must be more expensive.
Great ideas for mankind but hijacked by the greed and avarice of the rich.
There again, it may make energy vastly cheaper, but again the energy companies will have an excuse as to why it must be more expensive.
Great ideas for mankind but hijacked by the greed and avarice of the rich.
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6. Jim777 commented 11 years ago
ohhh, wait there is one: http://singularityhub.com/2012/12/11/norway-begins-four-year-test-of-thorium-nuclear-reactor/
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7. moskwiz commented 11 years ago
Sounds promising.. except for the part about saving humanity.. with every new energy source discovered it has brought us closer to being civil, but also it has increased inequality and conflict. I doubt thorium will be an answer to the real plagues of humankind - greed and ignorance.
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10. Thanos commented 11 years ago
#7 That's one of the best points about Thorium...
You see, I do not dispute your point, you're right there, BUT maybe you didn't account for one of the mains reasons, why new energy solutions have lead to conflicts. One of the main reasons was simply battle over resources, because either the materials were scarse, OR they were scarse compared to the amount required to sustain requires output.
However, In this video, we learned that this stuff is not only much more common than Uranium, but also that we need much less of it to achieve the same output. So, in my opinion, if this works as advertised and people/companies open to this idea, it could indeed drastically improve how things are in the world.
Something else that I find extremely curious about this, Norway, -country with of the largest quantities of oil, and therefore one of the countries least concerned about the energy-relevant resources' shortage-, is one of the first countries to house experiment that explores alternative, and so far it seems that also much more efficient, method to extract energy... That could send very good message out there... =)
You see, I do not dispute your point, you're right there, BUT maybe you didn't account for one of the mains reasons, why new energy solutions have lead to conflicts. One of the main reasons was simply battle over resources, because either the materials were scarse, OR they were scarse compared to the amount required to sustain requires output.
However, In this video, we learned that this stuff is not only much more common than Uranium, but also that we need much less of it to achieve the same output. So, in my opinion, if this works as advertised and people/companies open to this idea, it could indeed drastically improve how things are in the world.
Something else that I find extremely curious about this, Norway, -country with of the largest quantities of oil, and therefore one of the countries least concerned about the energy-relevant resources' shortage-, is one of the first countries to house experiment that explores alternative, and so far it seems that also much more efficient, method to extract energy... That could send very good message out there... =)
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11. kurkudjikul commented 11 years ago
"The Thorium Dream"
Documentary about this topic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GQ9Ll5EX1jc
Documentary about this topic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GQ9Ll5EX1jc
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12. moskwiz commented 11 years ago
#10 good point =)
Still, based on the expert opinion of the scientist in the video (that annual planetary energy requirement equals roughly 5,000 tons of thorium) and the estimates that there are about 1.66 million tons of accessible Thorium in the Earths crust (wiki) this would equal about 330 years worth of supply based on current energy consumption (which will surely keep climbing in the near future). For comparison, when oil was first discovered as an industrial resource, first estimates of its supply no doubt ranged to a comparable or even greater span and that still didn't stop mankind from absolutely monopolizing on it and start a first-come first-served race.
Still, based on the expert opinion of the scientist in the video (that annual planetary energy requirement equals roughly 5,000 tons of thorium) and the estimates that there are about 1.66 million tons of accessible Thorium in the Earths crust (wiki) this would equal about 330 years worth of supply based on current energy consumption (which will surely keep climbing in the near future). For comparison, when oil was first discovered as an industrial resource, first estimates of its supply no doubt ranged to a comparable or even greater span and that still didn't stop mankind from absolutely monopolizing on it and start a first-come first-served race.
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14. X3n0m0rph commented 11 years ago
Relevant to this is the book (see below link) written by Richard Martin, very good and informative on this subject.
http://www.amazon.com/SuperFuel-Thorium-Energy-Source-Future/dp/0230116477
http://www.amazon.com/SuperFuel-Thorium-Energy-Source-Future/dp/0230116477
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15. schlafanzyk commented 11 years ago
Full video for those interested:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EHEoc2QsvM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EHEoc2QsvM
+24 1. jrin2 commented 11 years ago