Thorium

[Anonymous No.2962501]

Why the FUCK aren't we investing millions into thorium reactor technology? If we aren't careful, China is going to get exclusive rights to the LFTR tech that the US developed in the 60s.

[Anonymous No.2962511]

>he thinks it's economical

[Anonymous No.2962518]

Because people are fucking retarded. Did you notice how many anti-nuclear campaigns started because of what happened to Japan? And most of the activists don't know shit about nuclear reactors, they're just pussies who are afraid of getting x-rays.

[Anonymous No.2962540]

It doesn't make weapons grade materials

[Anonymous No.2962541]

>Google Thorium
Get:
>Fuji Thorium MSR

HOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLY SHIT
Japan already has a THORIUM POWER PLANT PROJECT PLANNED

China isn't for behind Japan and has started a think tank.

>US
Oh wow absolutely nothing (after cold war).

[Anonymous No.2962544]

>>2962540

Oh wow, is it still 1960?

[Anonymous No.2962557]

>>2962541
AMERICA BEST COUNTRY IN WORLD

AMERICA STRONG

etc

[Anonymous No.2962599]

http://thoriummsr.wordpress.com/2010/09/12/fuji-thorium-msr-reactor-back-again-again/

>Japan selling commercial Thorium NPPs near me.
Im okay with this

[Anonymous No.2962609]

because your peer group is inferior to Indians and the Chinese?

[Anonymous No.2962610]

because nuclear weapons...
for every word you said, you could replace thorium and reactor with:


gallium/germanium/GaAs/InGaAs/CdSe/HgTe/etc. (replace thorium)

semiconductor
(replace reactor)
the same answer is:

"because silicon"
basically, for unrelated reasons, or reasons having to do with HISTORY... the INFRASTRUCTURE already existed to exploit one material based technology...


nuclear weapons meant lots of Uranium and Plutonium mining, engineering, and chemistry development...


Thorium reactors, though a sound mechanical/physical design principle have laughably small APPLIED research...


so few examples exist, that no exhaustive industrial and manufacturing data exists on the necessities of building large quantities of these...

thorium isnt mined in enough quantities to supply large numbers... the thorium has not been engineered (literally, machined using CNC machines designed for just this purpose) in large quantities so the technical expertise doesnt exist.


NOTE: all of what I have just described is ultimately what composes 99% of the classified secrets held by the US military...


Building and understanding a nuclear weapon is extremely simple from a theory perspective...

even buying the materials is easy...


but building large quantities, building factories, and ensuring reliable products is HARD..


it requires tons of R&D and time... that was supplied by the cold war with the Soviet Union (in the case of nuclear energy)


thorium never had that kind of application, so it never received the 2ndary support that developed the entire industry.

[Anonymous No.2962615]

>>2962544
>He can't follow a simple logic chain

During a time when war is a hairs breadth away do you either:
>Invest in designs that makes something you want and something that can be weaponised easily
>Invest in something that makes something you want

When war is no longer likely but you are in a financial crisis do you either:
>Use existing designs, with small modifications, and existing reactors
>Spend millions to make new designs then spend years and tens of millions building new reactors

[Anonymous No.2962633]

>>2962615
>He thinks not having thorium reactors is an economic problem

>laughingscientists.jpg

[Anonymous No.2962739]

>>2962518
In fact, the LFTR advocates are using the Fukushima disaster to promote the safety of their designs:

* Passively safe. If external power is cut, the liquid salts melt through the frozen plug (by design) into the cooling vessel. A procedure that is well tested since it is part of regular maintenance.

* Reaction stops immediately. So there would not be a buildup of hydrogen gas if cooling can't be maintained (the cause of the many explosions in Fukushima.

* Unpressurized. The LFTR works at atmospheric pressure (though high temperatures), so you don't need to worry about massively overdesigned pressure vessels.

* Much less cooling required. LFTR facilities don't need the huge volume of water for cooling that existing plants require. So LFTRs wouldn't be put near the coast and get the double whammy of earthquake + tsunami in the first place!