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I was pretty much against it, mainly due to safety issues, as one mistake can be disastrous.
This video changed my mind a bit. Since Thorium is very small for the energy you can get out of it, there shouldn't be problems transporting it, and the actual energy extraction process is much safer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9s0s3h4ETU
I'm for thorium reactors, and not against nuclear power in general. New nuclear power plants are much safer than the old ones, and the current policies is preventing old plants from being put out of use when they should. This actually results in greater danger for nuclear catastrophe, which is obviously not what is intended. Additionally I believe global warming is a more pressing problem than the nuclear waste, so exchanging coal power plants for nuclear power plants would be a net gain.
Besides, Norway apparently has large thorium reserves.
If I were against nuclear power I'd have to petition to have the sun turned off.
I'm all for it, especially getting fusion worked out, that would be awesome. There is quite a bit of hysteria about it, far more people have come to harm due to coal fired stations.
Although global warming is pressing, I actually think energy security and developing a sustainable infrastructure is way way more important. If we don't get it sorted soon there will be a civilisational collapse and billions of people will probably die.
Accidents aside, fission reactors create harmful waste with great longevity which is very difficult to store safely - there have already been problems with chemicals escaping from many of our current storage facilities.
Now, practical fusion reactors, THAT would be awesome. The real problem is petroleum, though, and if we can't get off of it soon, there will be some terrible things in humanity's future.
Xei has hit the nail on the head right there.
You know those kinds of posts are completely useless right?
That's why we have a "like" button now.
Practical nuclear power = practical and improved space travel. ME WANT.
Thorium is indeed absolutely amazing. The reason we stick with traditional reactors, is because we can use the waste for nuclear warheads, I believe.
It's a shame really. There wouldn't even really be a need for fusion, if we simply used thorium, but people are irrationally against nuclear energy and people who make a lot of money off of the fossil fuel industry probably also go a long way to prevent the development of amazing new energy technologies.
And Xei has a very good point about infrastructure. The fact that many portions of the world would literally stop functioning, because of the breakdown of infrastructure (due to the lack of practical transports, due to no fuel) is troubling, and would indeed cause a massive collapse. Energy grids also suck a lot, especially in southern Europe and the US. Local nuclear reactors would solve this problem. Self sustained societies is an absolute dream of mine. I don't want everyone to be isolated, but I don't want everyone to be dependant off of other societies either.
Thorium reactors would produce considerably smaller amounts of waste. As the video says, we currently use 65000 tons of uranium each year, on top of other energy sources. Thorium could completely substitute all that fuel, and with only 7000 tons. There will be less waste and the waste will also be easier to handle.Quote:
Originally Posted by Supernova
Obviously, developing fusion technology is still something we will have to do, as thorium would get depleted eventually as well. But that would probably take hundreds of years, considering the numbers highlighted in the video. By that time, we should have fusion figured out.
It's important for me to express how seriously I take this. Solving the energy problem would do a lot for our world. Lately, wars have been caused mostly because people are either suffering in countries under their current leaders, or because of oil. Both of these issues would be completely eliminated. There would still be power hungry people, but technically, there wouldn't be a reason aside from that to wage war anymore.
Personally, I believe we have reached a point in human development, where we can approach world peace with some confidence, and I sincerely believe that being able to supply all parts of the world with virtually limitless amounts of energy, will play a very big role in this development.
Yeah I just wanted to piss you off.Quote:
Originally Posted by tommo
I think the major problem we have, is that we are using very old reactors. All the new technology is making it safer and cleaner with less waste, all the time. However, we are not really using this new technology because of the initial build cost. And then by the time we build one, new technology has come out.
You should check out the video.Quote:
Originally Posted by Alric
I watched another one of Kirk's talks, a much longer one where he went into greater detail. Apparently the guy who figured out the first designs for nuclear reactors, similar to the ones we use today, actually suggested that we used thorium low pressure reactors instead. He even got a little money to try it out, but he couldn't get the amount of money he needed, so he had to shut down the project. So the real road block here, is basically that the technology still needs to be researched a ton, there's a lot of work to do, probably costing some billion dollars. What they are basically certain of is that it is possible, and a much more fruitful endeavour, than fusion research is, in the short run.
If it wasn't for our space brothers and sisters neutralising the effects of radiation on the physical and etheric levels from our nuclear escapades then life here on Earth for those of us that would still be here would be very, very hard and miserable. Do you really think that UFO's are just traversing our skies to watch us? We owe them a great deal for the work that they are doing to minimse the destruction we would have wreaked through our misunderstanding of the real dangers of nuclear fission. And for those of you who think Im a kook for saying this I look forward to telling you so when our friendly alien neighbours do one day start communicating with humanity. Hope you all have a nice day.
http://rclol.com/img/ancient-aliens-...its-aliens.jpgQuote:
Originally Posted by mcwillis
Are you suggesting that gamma rays from nuclear plants are breaking down ozone?Quote:
Originally Posted by mcwillis
I didn't refer to ozone at all. It is my understanding that the levels of alpha, beta and gamma radiation pollution would be far greater than it is now. This radiation doesn't just attack the physical plane but also the etheric plane. Etheric matter is technically physical matter, just less dense. It is the dark matter of modern physics, though physics has yet to fully understand this.Quote:
Originally Posted by Marvo
The real road block is that thorium reactors do not produce weapons grade plutonium.Quote:
Originally Posted by Marvo
edit; just saw that you already mentioned this...
Yeah, in a rational world, that would be the perfect reason to start using Thorium and stop using other nuclear power sources.