• Liquid fluoride thorium reactor in 5 minutes
    27 replies, posted
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uK367T7h6ZY[/media]
But you cant make nuclear bombs with the wastes from the thorium reactors. That's why we are not using it. :(
The idea that one day, in the far future, this could be the standard for energy production makes me giddy with excitement.
[QUOTE=ijyt;36366580]The idea that one day, in the far future, this could be the standard for energy production makes me giddy with excitement.[/QUOTE] Not that far of a future - China is already heavily investing in these reactors: [url]http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/8393984/Safe-nuclear-does-exist-and-China-is-leading-the-way-with-thorium.html[/url]
[QUOTE=Fatfatfatty;36366514]But you cant make nuclear bombs with the wastes from the thorium reactors. That's why we are not using it. :([/QUOTE] No the reason we're not using it yet is because we still need to perfect the technology.
If we find a way to directly convert beta particles into energy with near perfect efficiency, we could have miniature reactors running homes, that would be no larger than a fridge.
I really hope they perfect this process and start using it as soon as possible.
[QUOTE=Fatfatfatty;36366514]But you cant make nuclear bombs with the wastes from the thorium reactors. That's why we are not using it. :([/QUOTE] That pisses me off if it's true. We don't fuckin need nuclear bombs. We have plenty.
snip. wrong thread sorry.
Why dont we cover the earth in solar panels. Me:1 Scientists:0
wht if we use recharglable baterys [editline]17th June 2012[/editline] ???
I watch this and think; [IMG]http://www.instructables.com/files/deriv/FIZ/MVXG/FGTT1OHA/FIZMVXGFGTT1OHA.MEDIUM.jpg[/IMG]
[QUOTE=HoodedSniper;36372723]Why dont we cover the earth in solar panels. Me:1 Scientists:0[/QUOTE] that would also fend off an alien invasion because it'd blind them and getting blinded really hurts so they wouldnt invade us nobel prize ty
[QUOTE=GenPol;36366658]Not that far of a future - China is already heavily investing in these reactors: [url]http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/8393984/Safe-nuclear-does-exist-and-China-is-leading-the-way-with-thorium.html[/url][/QUOTE] I assumed that this would face pressure from oil companies and such, hampering progress because it's not 100% profitable for them. Maybe I was a bit pessimistic.
Was with him right up until the end when he said "we'll never run out"... of course we will you moron, it's a finite substance.
[QUOTE=Scotchair;36373145]Was with him right up until the end when he said "we'll never run out"... of course we will you moron, it's a finite substance.[/QUOTE] Well maybe he meant that given the estimated supply of thorium on the planet, we can have enough thorium to power the planet for at least the estimated length of our civilized planet. If that's what he meant, then yes, we will never run out. For instance, based on the estimates of thorium in the earth and his estimate of 5,000 tonnes of thorium per earth per year, then the earth has enough thorium to power itself for 24 million years. (P.S, that is the world estimate, actual thorium mined would be less)
[QUOTE=Scotchair;36373145]Was with him right up until the end when he said "we'll never run out"... of course we will you moron, it's a finite substance.[/QUOTE] He probably just means that there will be a new miracle fuel to move on to before we get close to running out of thorium.
[QUOTE=Scotchair;36373145]Was with him right up until the end when he said "we'll never run out"... of course we will you moron, it's a finite substance.[/QUOTE] Yeah, they said the same thing about oil.
The electrodes I use in the workshop are of a kobalt/thorium alloy to prevent it to melt during welding. I guess pure thorium is much more fragile to temperature than thorium alloys. I expected thorium to melt at much higher degrees than just 400 degrees.
[QUOTE=Scotchair;36373145]Was with him right up until the end when he said "we'll never run out"... of course we will you moron, it's a finite substance.[/QUOTE] Using Wikipedia as a source, I have determined that we have about 300 years worth of thorium on this planet, which is definitely enough.
[QUOTE=Crimptor;36373670]Using Wikipedia as a source, I have determined that we have about 300 years worth of thorium on this planet, which is definitely enough.[/QUOTE] We should have at least one permanent off world colony by then.
[QUOTE=Fatfatfatty;36366514]But you cant make nuclear bombs with the wastes from the thorium reactors. That's why we are not using it. :([/QUOTE] You can't make nuclear bombs with the waste from any plant. It still needs a very expensive enriching process.
[QUOTE=Crimptor;36373670]Using Wikipedia as a source, I have determined that we have about 300 years worth of thorium on this planet, which is definitely enough.[/QUOTE] Well, there are a few figures I've found: There are estimates of total thorium on the planet (120 trillion tonnes of it), there are current reserves on the planet, current reserves in mines we have and lastly there are probably some estimates on easily obtainable thorium deposits. Now no way in hell would we mine the entire planet (As my estimate suggests), but if thorium proved to be a good alternative, we'd be [I]looking for it harder[/I]. The number of thorium mines would explode, and thus the amount of thorium available would drastically increase (Capitalism, Ho!)
They don't call it THORium for nothing.
[QUOTE=Brt5470;36375095]You can't make nuclear bombs with the waste from any plant. It still needs a very expensive enriching process.[/QUOTE] Build a breeder reactor that breeds U-238(Depleted uranium) into U-239 and then wait for it to decay over a few days into Plutonium, then separate it from the mass of fuel. That's a basic summary of making plutonium for a bomb, it's far, far easier said than done.
I liked the "is a car safe?" analogy.
I'm looking forward to this to so we can stop your anus puns and do thor puns instead
Wow, please governments, invest in this research NOW! Like CRAZY! Please! This could possibly be the solution to a lot of the world's problems seeing as oil is what everybody is going crazy over
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