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Is thorium a viable energy source for the future?

Thorium is an alternative nuclear fuel to uranium. Its advantages are that it's more abundant than uranium and nuclear reactors based on thorium produce less waste. Research and development in thorium energy has rekindled in recent years driven by the need for a safe alternative to fossil fuels.

Implications to Other Questions

Should the world embrace nuclear energy?
Is thorium a viable energy source for the future?

Experts and Influencers

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Agree
Experts In Nuclear Energy


Kirk Sorensen    Nuclear Engineering Student
Agree
Thorium, if used efficiently, can be converted to energy far more easily and safely than any other energy source of comparable magnitude, including nuclear fusion and uranium fission.
01 Jun 2006    Source


Elling Disen    Founder of Thorium ElectroNuclear AB
Agree
Norway has 2 million tons of Thorium, enough to power the Nordic region for thousand of years.
31 Dec 2008    Source


Experts In Politics


Orrin Hatch    Senator, Utah, Republican
Agree
Our nation has focused mostly on mixed oxide nuclear fuel cycles, and our regulatory structure reflects that... With the growing interest in thorium nuclear power in the world and in the U.S., it’s time we made sure our government has a regulatory infrastructure in place to accommodate this new generation of nuclear power.
02 Oct 2008    Source


Harry Reid    Senator, Nevada, Democrat
Agree
[Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) and Harry Reid (D-Nev.) today introduced legislation that would pave the way for thorium nuclear-fuel reactors in the United States.]
02 Oct 2008    Source


Experts In Science


James Hansen    Climatology Professor
Agree
The other compelling alternative is to use thorium as the fuel in thermal reactors. Thorium can be used in ways that practically eliminate buildup of long-lived nuclear waste.
21 Nov 2008    Source


Experts In Law


Daniel Esty    Law Professor
Agree
[Esty said the country should rethink its stance on nuclear energy. Esty is excited about the element thorium as a fuel source for future nuclear plants. Thorium, he said, is less reactive than plutonium and does not pose a meltdown risk. The element was overlooked in the heyday of nuclear generator construction, he said, because the country was trying to build nuclear arms at the time. Thorium cannot be used to create weapons.]
12 Jul 2008    Source


Disagree
Experts In Nuclear Energy


John Large    Nuclear Engineer and Analyst
Disagree
The thorium reactors don't really work. They're very challenging. It's a whole new fuel technology which has considerable and insurmountables problems in my opinion. They would have problems in developing the processing cycle - the way in which you split the fuel from the waste from the reactor. They would have difficulties in actually storing the fuel.
01 Nov 2010    Source


Experts In Science


Nils Bohmer    Nuclear Physicist
Disagree
The NRPA (Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority) invalidated that thorium is kind nuclear power, as many have earlier asserted. ... Using thorium leads to highly radioactive nuclear waste and the risk of accidents will always be present. ... This is a confirmation of what we have said the whole time.
19 Oct 2008    Source


Miscellaneous Experts


Disagree
Like uranium fuel with reprocessing, bomb-making material is separated out, making it vulnerable to theft or diversion. ...the fission of thorium creates long-lived fission products like technetium-99 (half-life over 200,000 years) ...India has been trying to develop a thorium breeder fuel cycle for decades but has not yet done so commercially. U-232 is created ... which has a half-life of about 70 yeras, is extremely radioactive and very dangerous in small quantities.
01 Jan 2009    Source



Comments

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0 Points      AshleyAnderson      20 Oct 2011      Stance on Question: Agree
Thorium is an alternative nuclear fuel to uranium. Its advantages are that it's more abundant than uranium and nuclear reactors based on thorium produce less waste. Research and development in thorium energy has rekindled in recent years driven by the need for a safe alternative to fossil fuels. you can get more information here: http://www.nuclearfriendsfoundation.com


2 Points      Casey Stimson      09 May 2011      Stance on Question: Agree
There is long standing studies being done on thorium, with Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors, the fuel of the future is here. Here is a link to a video lecture done by Kirk Sorensen, an aerospace engineer and nuclear physicist.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZR0UKxNPh8


1 Point      PJ Lamberty      26 Apr 2011      Stance on Question: Mostly Agree
China and India are currently pursuing Thorium technology as a cleaner, safer energy source. Oak Ridge National Labs had a working model of a Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor (LFTR) which produced energy for seven years before it was decommissioned due to a lack of funding. This technology has been proven. Additionally, the Thorium cycle does not produce Plutonium. Yet funding continues to go toward Uranium-based nuclear energy, mainly because Uranium-based atomic power integrates well with our nuclear weapons program, (even though we are trying to disarm and deter proliferation).


1 Point      Benja      27 Apr 2011      Stance on Question: Agree
"Yet funding continues to go toward Uranium-based nuclear energy, mainly because Uranium-based atomic power integrates well with our nuclear weapons program..."

That was an incentive in the early days of nuclear technology and up to the end of the cold war. But that's not true today, with the US's arsenal of nuclear weapons that can still destroy the world many times over, a huge stockpile of plutonium, and 104 power plants still producing more plutonium than they know what to do with. The reluctance is due to other factors, perhaps the overarching one that it's a nightmare to push any new nuclear technology through congress.



1 Point      Benja      12 Mar 2011      Stance on Question: Agree
"The People’s Republic of China has initiated a research and development project in thorium molten-salt reactor technology". More here.

Is China going to beat the US on clean energy? The senators Orrin Hatch and Harry Reid have tried to sell the merits of using thorium energy to the US government with little success. Steven Chu (the Energy Secretary of the US) was asked about thorium nuclear power research here. His answer seems to be that "normal" (i.e. uranium) based designs are sufficient (perhaps he's right - 4th gen designs are pretty good). OTOH I worry that the lobbyists for nuclear energy want to promote their (uranium based) plant designs, and don't want the competition.