2 ms·

Why not thorium?

• DennisP 8y ago
  Why not both? Other companies are working on thorium reactors, as well as molten salt reactors running on uranium. Terrestrial Energy in particular is pretty far along, partly due to friendly regulators in Canada.
• nickik 8y ago
  Thorium only has advantages if you use a breeder. Uranium is actually better for most applications. And the development of any type of reactor is already expensive, adding the additional challenge of regulatory burden to change fuels is totally pointless. The real debate is about reactor design, not fuel type. I also started to get interested in Thorium, but I learn that its not about Thorium but rather your reactor type.
  • jabl 8y ago
    > Thorium only has advantages if you use a breeder. A thermal breeder, that is. In the fast spectrum the U-Pu cycle is superior. And even so, a thermal Th breeder has a very low breeding ratio, and in the thermal spectrum poisons are worse, meaning that the reprocessing volume to produce a unit of fuel will be frickin huge. Good luck making that economical.
    • nickik 8y ago
      Yes. A thermal breeder. Correct. There are ways to reduce the poisons depending on your reactor design.