5 ms·
Thorium is an abundant alternative to uranium, and the technology to use it has existed since the 1960s.
by goneri 4y ago
Thorium is an abundant alternative to uranium, and the technology to use it has existed since the 1960s.
- adrianN 4y agoThorium reactors never worked very well unfortunately.
- JoeAltmaier 4y agoWhat? They worked reliably and efficiently, and cost very little.
- adrianN 4y agoMaybe I'm misinformed. Which Thorium reactors worked reliably and cheaply?
- nazgulnarsil 4y agoYou're not misinformed. Commercial thorium doesn't exist and prototypes have issues with proliferation risks and the lifecycle of the materials used to build the primary containment. It is promising and there are several groups working on these problems but it's a hard sell given that recent gen uranium reactors aren't gated by fuel costs and have established supply chains.
- ncmncm 4y agoIndian Point tried thorium. They abandoned it, for reasons.
- forgetfulness 4y agoI'm a layman so I'm trusting the smarty sounding guy on Reddit and his elaborate arguments, but it seems like Thorium reactors, while delivering on the promise of not being able to physically explode, involve materials so nightmarish to work with that it's been impossible to create one that's safe to operate by nuclear worksers https://np.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/9unimr/dutch_satirical_news_show_on_why_we_need_to_break/e95mvb7/?context=3 https://np.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/9unimr/dutch_satiric...