Lately I’ve heard some descriptions about the potential of “thorium” that were very specific to the form of thorium that you would use in solid-fueled, water-cooled reactors–thorium oxide. Thorium oxide, or specifically thorium dioxide (ThO2) is the solid form of thorium that one would use in a light-water reactor or in a pebble-bed reactor, perhaps […]
Congressman Sestak Includes Key Provisions in National Defense Authorization Act Thorium Study for Energy Efficiency This provision directs the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to jointly carry out a study on the use of thorium-liquid fueled nuclear reactors for naval power, an important assessment of an energy […]
I’ve been drawing the reactor cores from the ORNL MSRP reports lately. I hope you like them. Here’s the one from ORNL-4119: and here’s the one from ORNL-4528: Here’s the picture from ORNL-4528 that I used for reference. Doing these has helped me learn a lot about fluoride reactor core design.
The issue of human-induced global warming has been a concern of mine for many, many years and has been the subject of several of my previous blog posts. It is clear to anyone who takes the time to examine the problem that the “low-hanging fruit” for CO2 reduction is the elimination of coal-fired electrical generation, […]
Dr. Joe Bonometti, a great friend of this blog and the cause of thorium, gave a “Tech Talk” at Google this past Tuesday on the subject of Liquid-Fluoride Thorium Reactors. The video of his talk is available on YouTube and embedded here. You can also download a copy of his slides here: LFTR Google Presentation […]
The following legislation has been introduced in the US Senate today by Senator Orrin Hatch and Senator Harry Reid: 110TH CONGRESS2D SESSION To amend the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to provide for thorium fuel cycle nuclear power generation. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES introduced the following bill; which was read twiceand referred […]
Guest blogger Iain McClatchie here. Kirk asked me to cross-post my next energy related posting from Ambivalent Engineer. I found some numbers for the oil cost of burning coal. As you know, coal moves primarily by train, and those trains are pulled by diesel-powered locomotives, and marginal diesel is of course imported. Coal is generally […]
Another set of outstanding posts from Charles Barton at “Nuclear Green“. His personal insight into the history of Oak Ridge National Lab, and his friendship with Alvin Weinberg and his family, allows him to share some remarkable insights with the rest of us about what REALLY happened to the Molten-Salt Reactor Program in the crucial […]
One of the scientists in the UK who helped convince Tony Blair that global warming was an issue of real concern has gotten in trouble for proposing something that might actually make a difference in the war on climate change: Nuclear power. And he got in big trouble for it. His book prescribes a barrage […]
Sorry for the long pause in blogging, folks—the new year should see a major resurgence in posts. But here’s the latest thing on which I want to comment: Washington Post: Nuclear Dinosaur Usually when reading articles like this it’s informative to skip to the end and read the affliation of the author. In this case, […]