4 ms·

Are thorium plants not viable? I remember hearing so much about them, but nothing ever happened, it seems.

• blisterpeanuts 10y ago
  The Wikipedia article[1] on thorium reactors lists the following disadvantages (quoted from the article): - Breeding in a thermal neutron spectrum is slow and requires extensive reprocessing. The feasibility of reprocessing is still open. - Significant and expensive testing, analysis and licensing work is first required, requiring business and government support. According to a 2012 report by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, about using thorium fuel with existing water-cooled reactors, it would "require too great an investment and provide no clear payoff," noting that "from the utilities’ point of view, the only legitimate driver capable of motivating pursuit of thorium is economics." - There is a higher cost of fuel fabrication and reprocessing than in plants using traditional solid fuel rods. - Thorium, when being irradiated for use in reactors, will make uranium-232, which is very dangerous due to the gamma rays it emits. This irradiation process may be altered slightly by removing protactinium-233. The irradiation would then make uranium-233 in lieu of uranium-232, which can be used in nuclear weapons to make thorium into a dual purpose fuel. /end quote I do wonder whether some of these issues are significantly different from the problems of uranium fission reactors. The benefits of thorium are huge: can't be used to produce nuclear bomb material; easier to prevent meltdowns; enrichment of fuel not needed. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorium-based_nuclear_power#Possible_disadvantages https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorium-based_nuclear_power#Po...