China enters race to develop nuclear energy from thorium

Imagine how the nuclear energy debate might differ if the fuel was abundant and distributed across the world; if there was no real possibility of creating weapons-grade material as part of the process; if the waste remained toxic for hundreds rather than thousands of years; and if the power stations were small and presented no risk of massive explosions

Read the full article from the Guardian here

I live on the coast in North Florida.

Lots of thorium in the sand, lots in a nearby creek.

Interesting. Thanks for the thread.

reply to post by FarArcher


although its only a short article i find the last paragraph interesting...

Despite not making a ripple in the wider press, there's a chance this development could be very significant. If the advocates of LFTRs are proved correct – and their arguments are certainly very compelling – then the Chinese could be taking one of the first substantial steps in a new type of nuclear race. And the stakes are high: as Sorensen reports, the project "aims not only to develop the technology but to secure intellectual property rights to its implementation". It will be very interesting to see what happens next.

..interesting indeed..

This is very interesting! I didn't think thorium could be used in this manner.

One thing in the article bugged me though:

"And the stakes are high: as Sorensen reports, the project "aims not only to develop the technology but to secure intellectual property rights to its implementation".

So, if China beats us to this technology, we can't use it unless we pay them for it? Hmmm, they steal our intellectual property rights all the time with illegal copies of CDs, fake luxury products and corporate intellectual property.

I say, if they do beat us to it, we just steal it from them and put it to good use.

reply to post by tsawyer2


pretty much was I was thinking...one to watch I think..ill have a dig..

reply to post by discostu123


LOL...I saw you posted that while I was writing my reply.

This will be interesting indeed. I'm going to go hunting for some reading on Thorium.

This is a good thing in that it may spark some interest in the western nations.

There are other irons in the fire as well.

If they can get polywell fusion to work thats an even better solution. If it wasn't progressing the US Navy wouldn't be funding it.

reply to post by tsawyer2


heres a few


en.wikipedia.org...
www.thoriumenergy.org...
www.lenntech.com...

reply to post by justwokeup


agreed...just reading up on how far along the r&d is

reply to post by tsawyer2


China don't know a thing about patent rights. Since they have copied everyone else goods I don't think anyone in this world cares about their rights anymore.

reply to post by discostu123


Thanks! That is some good reading. I didn't seem to understand the graph in your second link though:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/e7034ec980c6.png[/atsimg]

That seems to say that this type of reactor is quicker to put out a 5 rem dose of radiation to an individual a heck of alot quicker than weapons grade plutonium.

Did I read that right?

there are numerous types of energy without any harmful emissions, in fact some may even help heal the atmosphere...even crop circles have tried to reveal some of them,you may wonder why I elude to them being hidden...I say because they have been since the late 1800s...some are hidden to this day in the US patent office...Numerous others including several which were of design by Tesla were siezed upon his death,along with numerous other of Teslas patents over 200 of them all together... This is aproaching 100 years ago, the Earth Moon and Sun have triune energy exchange that could provide the Earth with all the juice mankind will EVER need... So why dont we have this? Well gotta fund the War machine and make more money for the rich of course... So untill the children of earth can learn to play together and learn to trust one another the powers that be have thier excuse...

reply to post by discostu123
sorry still not convinced lol

I've posted on this subject before.

Sounds like such a great idea, and the only reason I've read about for why we aren't doing it already is that we needed the uranium-plutonium reactors in the 50's and 60's to produce weapons.

If only ...

Originally posted by tsawyer2
reply to post by discostu123

 

Thanks! That is some good reading. I didn't seem to understand the graph in your second link though:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/e7034ec980c6.png[/atsimg]

That seems to say that this type of reactor is quicker to put out a 5 rem dose of radiation to an individual a heck of alot quicker than weapons grade plutonium.

Did I read that right?

Yes.

The reactor works by bombarding Thorium-232 with neutrons to form Uranium-233 which then is fissioned. When Uranium-233 is completely isotropically and chemically pure it could be used in a nuclear weapon. Irradiating Thorium inevitably also creates Uranium-232 which is extremely radioactive and also almost impossible to separate from Uranium-233. In other words, even if some force got hold of the Uranium-233 it will be inevitably contaminated with Uranium-232 which severely damages or even destroys its ability to be used in a nuclear weapon. Being half a meter away from a 5kg metal sphere, 1% Uranium-232 will kill you in 2 minutes and 24 seconds, so it's practically impossible to steal. Shielding doesn't help either because gamma radiation is very difficult to stop, needing large quantities of lead. The gamma radiation will also destroy any electronics near it and damages the explosives.

No Uranium-232 / Uranium-233 is found in the waste, it's destroyed making electricity. In any case, countries do not build nuclear weapons because they have nuclear power, they build nuclear weapons because they have an extremely strong perceived need for nuclear weapons. This is why no material for nuclear weapons has ever come from a civilian nuclear power reactor so the real world benefits from this are practically non-existent. The biggest advantage, IMHO, is that no enrichment is required.

I will be honest haven't heard of throium until now, thanks for the heads up and the article.

reply to post by coolottie


lol...just realised what you're on about...sorry, no long exposure planes here im afraid

Ive been reading ALOOT about thoriumreacyors and
it advantages.
I say, let them...

Let them find out HOW to make it work, and ill go steal it from them...

reply to post by discostu123


No worries.. China doesnt care about intellectual property rights or patents. We will just return the favor by stealing the info from them.

if you used ATS search for a moment, you'd find that molten salt reactors have been developed in the 1960s, but later abandoned, for whatever reason.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

it did work, so, unlike several experimental fusion reactors, this device will yield heat, period.

having frequented the Energy from Thorium website a bit, i'd say the program is going to be a success, without much of a doubt. what does that imply... well, China will have nearly free energy from the middle of the century on, high temperatures of a an LFTR can be used the produce synthetic fuels, so we're looking at full self-reliance here! they already corner the market for rare earth materials and trace elements AND many fission products fall into the same category - which can be extracted from liquid fuel with relative ease... let's not forget that Tritium and He3 for fusion research doesn't grow on trees and the one with a sizable fleet of fission reactors will have it easier.

It's a sound strategic move and i can only offer my congratulations. This will change the world for the better, and it matters not one bit if we have to pay a cent/kWh in royalties, because the alternatives are endless oil wars, perpetual food crisis (sure, fertilizer requires energy to produce, but let me mention the obvious: d e s a l i n i s a t i o n , got it?) and energy cartels strangling the world to death. Sure, there are other projects along these lines, but from what i've gathered, these are aimed at spent fuel processing rather than power generation.