Thorium Nuclear Power
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Energy from Thorium
Dr. Ritsuo Yoshioka of the International Thorium Molten-Salt Forum has relayed some sad news to us: “This is a very sad notice.
Th ), which are insufficient to initiate a nuclear chain reaction . Additional fissile material or another neutron source are necessary to initiate the fuel cycle. In a thorium-fueled reactor, 232 The thorium fuel cycle claims several potential advantages over a uranium fuel cycle , including thorium's greater abundance , superior physical and nuclear properties, better resistance to nuclear weapons proliferation , and reduced plutonium and actinide production. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ edit ] History
Thorium fuel cycle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
SYDNEY: Safer, cleaner nuclear power is a step closer to reality after Norway's state-owned energy company, Statkraft, this week announced plans to investigate building a thorium-fuelled nuclear reactor. Statkraft (which translates to "state power") announced an alliance with regional power providers Vattenfall in Sweden, and Fortum in Finland, along with Norwegian energy investment company, Scatec AS, in a bid to produce the thorium-fuelled plant. Thorium (Th-232), has been hailed as a 'greener' alternative to traditional nuclear fuels, such as uranium and plutonium, because thorium is incapable of producing the runaway chain reaction which in a uranium-fuelled reactor can cause a catastrophic meltdown. Thorium reactors also produce only a tiny fraction of the hazardous waste created by uranium-fuelled reactors (see 'New age nuclear' , Cosmos , issue 8).
Green nuclear power coming to Norway | COSMOS magazine
The news item is based on a report on thorium which will be broadcast on the NRK Brennpunkt programme on Tuesday, 7 October. Brennpunkt has followed up several players all of whom – each in their different ways and to varying degrees, are looking into the potential future of thorium as a source of energy. Statkraft’s position on thorium is well known Statkraft has previously outlined the company’s opinion concerning the need for developing further competence as regards thorium.
Incorrect information regarding Statkraft and thorium - Statkraft
“If it begins to overheat, a little plug melts and the salts drain into a pan. There is no need for computers, or the sort of electrical pumps that were crippled by the tsunami. The reactor saves itself,” he said. “They operate at atmospheric pressure so you don’t have the sort of hydrogen explosions we’ve seen in Japan.
Safe nuclear does exist, and China is leading the way with thorium - Telegraph
Leading physicist calls China's nuclear programme 'rash and unsafe' - Telegraph
In an article for Science Times, a Chinese journal, Mr He also questioned whether the government's calculations about the cost of nuclear power were accurate. "China is not rich in uranium resources," he said. "How much can we import from abroad?
NEW NUKES: NRG Energy hopes to build two new advanced boiling water reactors at its South Texas nuclear power plant site. Image: COURTESY OF NRG The two reactors at the South Texas nuclear power plant, an hour southwest of Houston, last year churned out 21.37 billion kilowatt-hours. By 2015, its majority owner, New Jersey-based NRG Energy, hopes to at least double that capacity if it gets permission to build two more reactors on the site.
Nuclear Power Reborn: Scientific American
Some scientists say we can save time and increase safety by replacing uranium-based reactors (like the Vogtle nuclear power plant in Georgia, above) with ones focused on thorium. Photo: CC BY: Blatant World SEE ALL 20 PHOTOS Japan's escalating disaster at its Fukushima reactors is putting a damper on the nuclear power industry, just as nuclear energy was starting to bask in a post-Chernobyl glow. But instead of giving up on nuclear power, say an "almost cult-like" group of nuclear scientists, we should just switch from uranium-based reactors to ones fueled by cheaper, safer thorium . What is this miracle metal — and could it really bring us safe nuclear power? What is thorium?
Could thorium make nuclear power safe? - The Week
So following the near meltdown of several reactors at Fukushima Nuclear Power, it’s dead is it? Well, to follow one FT article , you could be mistaken for thinking that will be the likely outcome. As the article reports, impact on the industry has been dramatic, from miners like Cameco, a major Canadian uranium producer, whose share price has fallen 20 percent since March 10th, to major deals like Russian ARMZ’s acquisition of Mantra Resources for A$1.2 billion that has been called off after the buyer’s (an ARMZ subsidiary Uranium One) share price fell 34 percent.
Is Thorium the Future of Nuclear Power | Oil Price.com
“Green Nukes” An Important Climate Change Mitigation Tool | The Energy Collective
Adam Curry interviewed Curt Stager , the author of Deep Future: The Next 100 Years of Life on Earth for his Big Book Show . During the interview, Curry and Stager spent several minutes discussing the potential for “green nukes” to be an important climate change mitigation tool. Aside: Adam Curry interviewed me four years ago about Adams Engines ; he has been interested in new nuclear power plants for a long time. End Aside.
In a world increasingly aware of and affected by global warming, the news that 2010 was a record year for greenhouse gases levels was something of a blow. With the world's population due to hit nine billion by 2050, it highlights the increasingly urgent need to find a clean, reliable and renewable source of energy . India hopes it has the answer: thorium, a naturally occurring radioactive element, four times more abundant than uranium in the earth's crust. The pro-thorium lobby claim a single tonne of thorium burned in a molten salt reactor (MSR) – typically a liquid fluoride thorium reactor (LFTR) – which has liquid rather than solid fuel, can produce one gigawatt of energy. A traditional pressurised water reactor (PWR) would need to burn 250 tonnes of uranium to produce the same amount of energy. They also produce less waste, have no weapons-grade by-products, can consume legacy plutonium stockpiles and are meltdown-proof – if the hype is to be believed.
Don't believe the spin on thorium being a greener nuclear option | Environment | guardian.co.uk
Credit: Justin Randall What if we could build a nuclear reactor that offered no possibility of a meltdown, generated its power inexpensively, created no weapons-grade by-products, and burnt up existing high-level waste as well as old nuclear weapon stockpiles? And what if the waste produced by such a reactor was radioactive for a mere few hundred years rather than tens of thousands? It may sound too good to be true, but such a reactor is indeed possible, and a number of teams around the world are now working to make it a reality.
New age nuclear | COSMOS magazine
World Nuclear Association | Nuclear Power - a Sustainable Energy Resource
Country profiles, technical information, facts and figures in 200 frequently-updated papers providing full coverage of nuclear power worldwide.The use of thorium as a new primary energy source has been a tantalizing prospect for many years. Extracting its latent energy value in a cost-effective manner remains a challenge, and will require considerable R&D investment. Nature and sources of thorium
Thorium
Sometime between 2020 and 2040, we will invent a practically unlimited energy source that will solve the global energy crisis. This unlimited source of energy will come from thorium . A summary of the benefits, from a recent announcement of the start of construction for a new prototype reactor: It depends on how cheap we're talking about. Most reactor designs utilize thorium use molten salt (or lead) as a coolant. Even though they were developed as early as 1954, molten salt-coolant reactors are a relatively immature technology.