I have appealed many times on this blog to our public leaders to save the precious resource that is uranium-233. I have explained in an earlier blog post why the uranium-233, if used in a liquid-fluoride thorium reactor (LFTR) represents “unlimited” energy, because it can “catalyze” the consumption of abundant natural thorium and the inventory […]
The Department of Energy has been engaged in a terrible effort to destroy–permanently–what might be the most precious substance on Earth: Uranium-233. Why is uranium-233 so precious? Because in a liquid-fluoride thorium reactor, U-233 represents essentially unlimited energy. How can that be so? Because in a LFTR, U-233 “catalyses” the consumption of thorium, which is […]
In the latest news from ORNL, the project to downblend and “dispose” of uranium-233 manufactured over the last 50 years appears to have hit another snag. Now the price tag is up to $380 million, and the timetable for disposition has been delayed to 2012. In one sense, I am very glad for that. 2012 […]
$48 million to remediate the Molten-Salt Reactor Experiment? Not only does it sound like these guys are “milking” the job, but if this money was being spent on fluoride reactor DEVELOPMENT rather than “remediation”, the entire remediation task (which appears to consist of fluorinating the MSRE fuel) could probably be accommodated in the reactor development […]
I found a document (that can be purchased or read online) that talks about removing U-233 from the salts of the Molten-Salt Reactor Experiment, a liquid-fluoride reactor that was built at Oak Ridge National Lab and operated from 1965-1969. Evaluation of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Alternatives for the Removal and Disposition of Molten Salt […]
One of the saddest things I had read recently was the decision by the DOE and ORNL to “downblend” and effectively destroy their small stockpile of uranium-233. This is so tragic because this U-233 represents the perfect “start charge” for a thorium-fueled liquid-fluoride reactor. If it was used as the initial fuel, the reactor would […]
When I learned that the entire National Defense Stockpile of thorium (3216 metric tonnes) was slated for burial in the Nevada desert, that was bad enough. But the destruction of our U233 really breaks my heart and hurts so much worse. Uranium-233 is the ideal fuel to start a liquid-fluoride reactor, and there is a […]