• a TED talk on Thorium as a renewable energy source.
    12 replies, posted
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2vzotsvvkw[/media] The website. [url]http://energyfromthorium.com/[/url] To tell the truth, I had no idea this element even existed. It seems like such a better idea then what we do now. But this really pisses me off. [quote=Energy from Thorium] The first thing we should do is stop the Department of Energy’s effort to destroy the one tonne of uranium-233 that we already have. They don’t think that that uranium-233 has any value to their mission and are going to spend $500M to mix it with uranium-238 and throw it away in the desert. That’s a bad idea. We’re going to need that one tonne and a whole lot more. [/quote] I mean really, 500 million dollars to dispose of a ton of Uranium-223 (thorium), how could anyone think this is a good idea?
Thorium is definitely the next step, and is an opportunity we can't afford to miss.
Sounds like a plan, why has this not been done before?
[img]http://www.thorium.tv/images/thorium_reactor.jpg[/img] This here is what you can do with thorium. Using thorium as a nuclear fuel doesn't emit gamma rays, so you need less shielding.
You can also laze thorium in in order to produce heat. Some company was designing a small enough thorium reactor to put in a car and Cadillac even came up with a concept. [img]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3390/3204175542_d33f48bb2c.jpg[/img]
My grandfather told me about thorium a couple of years back, almost seems too good to be true!
[QUOTE=NOR_92;35106798]My grandfather told me about thorium a couple of years back, almost seems too good to be true![/QUOTE] Well it is, unfortunately the main reason the US has nuclear power plants that use uranium is because we needed it to be enriched for nuclear weapons.
I guess this would make individuals too free, governments wouldn't like this that much.
[QUOTE=Phaselancer;35107077]Well it is, unfortunately the main reason the US has nuclear power plants that use uranium is because we needed it to be enriched for nuclear weapons.[/QUOTE] Doesn't mean that other countries can't use the technology?
Well, it makes sense that when you are given a certain technology you use it to your advantage as efficiently as possible. So it makes sense they chose to go with uranium back then. It's quite silly to not consider a more efficient technology over the old and proven.
[QUOTE=NOR_92;35107524]Doesn't mean that other countries can't use the technology?[/QUOTE] The petroleum industry also runs the nuclear industry. Need I say anything else?
[QUOTE=eddy-tt-;35107871]The petroleum industry also runs the nuclear industry. Need I say anything else?[/QUOTE] Good point. Well, I guess this is good news if corporate assholes can prioritize the well-being of the planet instead of profit ... coming from one of the world's oil capitals where people are stupidly rich from said industry I'd say it looks rather bleak.
I've known about this for years and it still pisses me off when i think about how this isn't being taken advantage of...
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