China Takes Lead in Race for Clean Nuclear Power. China has officially announced it will launch a program to develop a thorium-fueled molten-salt nuclear reactor, taking a crucial step towards shifting to nuclear power as a primary energy source.
The project was unveiled at the annual Chinese Academy of Sciences conference in Shanghai last week, and reported in the Wen Hui Bao newspaper (Google English translation here). If the reactor works as planned, China may fulfill a long-delayed dream of clean nuclear energy. The United States could conceivably become dependent on China for next-generation nuclear technology.
At the least, the United States could fall dramatically behind in developing green energy. Il nucleare che fa paura all'Europa. History of Nuclear Technology. 11 July 2011Last updated at 09:50 By Richard Black Environment correspondent, BBC News EBR-1 promised much - but the fast breeder lineage was curtailed, like many others The most obvious cause of the disaster at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station was the massive wall of tsunami water that swept the site clean of back-up electricity generation on 11 March, removing cooling capacity from reactor cores and resulting in serial meltdown.
Would a newer reactor have fared better? Was the relationship between industry and regulators too close? A question less often discussed, but equally intriguing, is whether decisions made half a century ago for reasons of commercial and geopolitical advantage have left the world with basic designs of nuclear reactor that are inherently less safe than others that have fallen by the wayside. To make an analogy with the world of videotape: have we been guilty of rejecting the nuclear Betamax in favour of an inferior quality VHS? Thorium, a Readily Available and Slightly Radioactive Mineral, Could Provide the World with Safer, Clean Energy without Breaking the Bank.
From the early 1950s to the mid-1970s, an active R&D program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tenn. came up with a promising way to use thorium for making large amounts of energy cleanly and safely.
It was based on a revolutionary kind of nuclear reactor that uses liquid rather than solid fuel. Liquid fuel has significant theoretical advantages in operation, control, and processing over solid fuel, but a basic question had to be answered: “Will it work?” To that end, Oak Ridge engineers built four liquid-fueled reactors. Two used water-based liquids, and two were based on liquid fluoride salts. The water-based reactors had to operate at high pressures to generate the temperatures needed for economical power generation. The fluoride reactors had neither of these drawbacks. In the late 1960s, however, the director of Oak Ridge National Lab, Alvin Weinberg, was fired by the U.S. US and Israel were behind Stuxnet claims researcher. 4 March 2011Last updated at 16:55 Iran's Bushehr reactor is believed to have been on of the intended targets for Stuxnet.
Israel and the United States created the Stuxnet worm to sabotage Iran's nuclear programme, a leading security expert has claimed. Ralph Langner told a conference in California that the malicious software was designed to cripple systems that could help build an Iranian bomb. Mr Langner was one of the first researchers to show how Stuxnet could take control of industrial equipment. It is widely believed that its target was machinery used to enrich uranium. Speaking at the TED conference in Long Beach, California, Mr Langner said: "My opinion is that Mossad [Israel's intelligence agency] is involved. " However he speculated that Israel was not the main driver behind the creation of Stuxnet. "There is only one leading source, and that is the United States," said Mr Langner. Stuxnet first came to light in July 2010. Damaging centrifuges. China Initiates Thorium MSR Project « Energy from Thorium.
David Leblanc explains why Thorium reactors need a lot less fissile nuclear material to start and for ongoing operation. Joseph Friedlander asked David LeBlanc about the starting fissile requirement for Thorium nuclear reactors.
David Le Blanc, Physics Dept, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada and Ottawa Valley Research Associates Ltd A 12 page paper by David LeBlanc , Denatured Molten Salt Reactors (DMSR): An Idea Whose Time Has Finally Come? Take 1970s technology, add perhaps $3 billion of R&D over 15 to 20 years for a trillion dollar per year potential energy market. Molten Salt Reactors are one of six next generation designs chosen by the Gen IV program. Traditionally these reactors are thought of as thermal breeder reactors running on the thorium to 233U cycle and the historical competitor to fast breeder reactors. David answers are below. Thorium – The Next Generation of Nuclear Power? " WellHome. UC Nuclear Renaissance. Cameron and Sarkozy hail UK-France defence treaties. 2 November 2010Last updated at 21:06 Sarkozy and Cameron say the moves will save money without undermining national sovereignty New treaties on defence and nuclear joint working with France marked a "new chapter" in a long history of defence co-operation, David Cameron has said.
A UK centre will develop nuclear testing technology while one in France carries it out and there are plans for a joint army expeditionary force. After signing the treaties with Nicolas Sarkozy, the UK PM said it would make citizens safer and would save money. But Labour suggested it could limit the UK's ability to act independently. After he and French President Nicolas Sarkozy signed the two treaties, Mr Cameron said: "Today we open a new chapter in a long history of co-operation on defence and security between Britain and France. " He said it was not about a European army or about sharing nuclear weapons. Continue reading the main story Paul ReynoldsWorld affairs correspondent, BBC News website. Why Not Thorium? Reator nuclear doméstico já está em produção.