Thorium energy and the LFTR

[ecomodded]

It is sounding like the real problem with nuclear power the whole time was the weapons grade reactors.

If thorium reactors can transform old nuclear waste (including water) into a less problematic material.. then they are indeed "the answer" (cue the music and release the doves)

[jeff5may]

I don't know about the water. That would be a tough one to deal with. The reason mr. Nixon shut down the thorium research reactor programs is they didn't produce weapons grade material. Safety and power generation were not important to his purpose.

Nowadays, the nuclear power industry has such a bad reputation that nobody wants a reactor built anywhere approaching close to them.

[ecomodded]

We don't need the heat all at once despite what politics tells us..

[Daox]

This was just posted over on ecomodder.com:

Nuclear Power Turns To Salt - Forbes

Today, it was announced that the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennessee is partnering with Canadian nuclear company Terrestrial Energy Inc. (TEI) to assist with TEI’s new Integral Molten Salt Reactor (IMSR). The engineering blueprint stage for this GenIV reactor should be reached in two years. The reactor should come online in less than ten.

Terrestrial Energy Announces Initial Collaboration with Oak Ridge National Laboratory

[jeff5may]

Yay! Progress at its best.

[AC_Hacker]

Originally Posted by jeff5may

This topic popped up on another thread, and due to the global implications I believe it deserves its own discussion thread.

jeff5may,

Can we trust our government to handle nuclear technology?

I am a bit dismayed by your whole-hearted enthusiasm regarding nuclear fuel.

Any nuclear program, no matter the technology, will be handled by the federal government.

I am not a broad-brush 'govenment-is-bad' type person.

But if our government is acting irresponsibly, we as citizens are the only force on earth that can stop it.

The federal government has not shown itself to be a sufficiently responsible agent to handle any nuclear technology.

As an example that actually threatens me and my children and their children, on into the unimaginable future is the Hanford Nuclear Enrichment facility that is located in Washington state, and is cited adjacent to the Columbia River, which flows next to Portland, Oregon, which is where I live.

Over the years, this facility has had large nuclear accidents wherein hazardous releases of dangerous gases without ever warning the public that they were in danger. In fact, it took many years for people living in the area of the facility to realize that they were falling ill due to very rare forms of cancer. And then it took subsequent medical studies and teams of lawyers to finally gain through Freedom of Information Act requests (FOIA), the records that showed that the government had purposely withheld vital information from the public.

Subsequently, the federal government had resisted giving those affected the medical and financial assistance they need.

This same story has been repeated for all of the "Down Winders" who were affected by above ground nuclear testing. Delay, deny, deny ,deny until death.

And here is a chart of the hazardous nuclear-contaminated ground water that is inching itself toward the Columbia:

The feds are not doing any thing to remediate or stop this deadly leakage. I live, with my children, and grandchildren, down stream about 90 miles.

Hanford Nuclear Waste Tank Allowed To Keep Leaking For Over A Year, According To Deal

400 % Spike in Rare Birth Defects Near Leaking Hanford Nuclear Site | nsnbc international

6 tanks at Hanford nuclear site in Wash. leaking - CBS News

And the governmental neglect has been repeated in the cases of soldiers who were irradiated by the first atomic tests and were ordered to march into the blast area, after the first big blasts. Denial, stalling until most of those affected finally died miserable, impoverished deaths. Yes, our own brave American soldiers... they did it to them.Delay, deny, deny, deny until death.

The same story repeats for the Pacific Islanders who lived close to the Pacific blasts. Delay, deny, deny, deny until death.

It is not like the feds didn't know that radiation was a health hazard, it has been known since July 4, 1934 when Madame Marie Curie died from her work with Radium.

If that were not enough, we have (since all governmental power flows from 'we the people') used the leftover nuclear waste as ammunition.

The US and NATO militaries used DU penetrator rounds in the 1991 Gulf War, the Bosnia war, bombing of Serbia, and the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and since then in 1991 Iraq & Afghanistan.

Even when the DU testing was being done, the scientists already knew the hazards of DU, and the initial testing procedures and safety precautions proved it.

What of the affected US soldiers who were adversely affected? Delay, deny, deny, deny until death.

Search Youtube for: Depleted Uranium The Facts and Health Effects.Dr Doug Rokke

Very important information!!

And what about the "Collateral Damage" afflicted upon the adult men and women and children, who were uninvolved civilians during this period?

Toxic fallout from US war produces record child birth defect rates in Iraq - World Socialist Web Site

Depleted Uranium, Fukushima and Karma - End the Lie - Independent News | End the Lie – Independent News

Iraq's depleted uranium clean-up to cost $30m as contamination spreads | Environment | The Guardian

Birth Defects Iraq

Well, cancers have soared, and birth defects have gone up by multiples. In Iraq, the question asked at birth is no longer, 'is it a boy or girl', the question asked is, 'is it a human'.

Huge rise in birth defects in Falluja | World news | The Guardian

We knew the danger before it was used. What will we do now that the effects are becoming public knowledge? (at least in those countries where it was used). Delay, deny, deny, deny until death.

jeff5may, don't you have a contaminated area near you?

As I remember, the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, looks something like this:

And if you didn't know it already, the contamination leakage map looks just like this:

Looks to me like the radiation leakage is headed straight for the Ohio River.

Did you know that?

I have a suspicion that a little research will turn up information about patterns of rare cancers showing up in human populations in the area surrounding this plant.

Mortality Patterns Among Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant Workers

Washingtonpost.com: In Harm's Way, But in the Dark

I think it is safe to say that the feds in your area are using the standard strategy:
Delay, deny, deny, deny until death.

There are well-documented books and documentary films that cover the unconscionable neglect our government has displayed in it's handling of nuclear materials, time and time again, with no change.


So, I think that we need to ask ourselves:

Can we trust our government to handle nuclear technology?

-AC

[jeff5may]

Originally Posted by AC_Hacker

jeff5may,

Can we trust our government to handle nuclear technology?

I am a bit dismayed by your whole-hearted enthusiasm regarding nuclear fuel.

Delay, deny, deny, deny until death.

There are well-documented books and documentary films that cover the unconscionable neglect our government has displayed in it's handling of nuclear materials, time and time again, with no change.


So, I think that we need to ask ourselves:

Can we trust our government to handle nuclear technology?

-AC

OOh, please don't get me started in that direction! If there were such a thing as a wrong question to ask someone, you just asked me that question. I actually wrote a research paper in college (english 102) in the 80's that mirrored your above post. It was chock full of examples where the AEC and the NRC and the DOD and the DOE and.... had done gross misdeeds on American soil. I got a really high grade on that one, without revising it a whole lot (uncommon).

Uh-oh. The wife just got home, and she's trying to steal my bath water from me. No time to waste, gotta go.....

[jeff5may]

Ok, now It's her turn. I'm free, mwahahaha mwahahahaa!

Seriously, our government is far from perfect. But historically speaking, it is in fact the best ever. It's also all we've got. Up until very recently in world history, countries and nations with superpower status have been overly ruthless and oppressive. The previous world powers basically murdered, enslaved, and burned their way to the top. Any dissent or threat against the ruling parties was simply put down. I am thankful not to live in these circumstances.

Actually, the American nuclear program in general, both military and industrial, has by far the best track record on Earth. Compared to both other nuclear weapon proliferating nations and other power generating sources of energy, the nuclear program in general still comes out on top. How many mishaps or disasters related to natural gas or oil can you recount in the last ten years? The natural gas industry runs over 2 million miles of distribution pipe, yet employs only 100 or so inspectors. Casualties occur weekly and losses are in the range of billions per month in damages and repairs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8VZo7tWfw0

The coal industry could not operate if they had to count their radioactive emissions. The fly ash waste emits much more radiation ounce for ounce than nuclear waste being sequestered in pools or dry casks. Guess where this radiation comes from? Uranium and thorium (and their decay products: radium, radon,..., lead) and (you guessed it) carbon-14 mined with the coal and concentrated by the burning process. This radioactive waste is written off as NORM. What doesn't go up the smokestack gets recycled as feedstock for other industrial processes or ends up in a landfill somewhere. When coal industry haters argue against the industry, they usually don't even mention this fact, since the common safety hazards and associated "normal" pollution levels and environmental devastation make the radiation emissions seem irrelevant. Sulfur and mercury and CO2 and such.

Coal Ash Is More Radioactive than Nuclear Waste - Scientific American

[Xringer]

https://youtu.be/cZhvO0FoopQ

"Published on Jun 22, 2015

Jim Kennedy gives an update on Th-REE legislative efforts in the United States Congress.

Thorium and Rare Earths are linked at the mineralogical, regulatory and geopolitical level.

Most Members of Congress recognize rare earths as a national security issue. Few Members of Congress have the political will to address nuclear energy issues.

The legislative proposal combines these issues and creates a regulatory and funding platform for the development of a domestic rare earth value chain and Thorium energy corporation.

If passed, legislation would create a privately funded and operated multi-national rare earth cooperative value chain inside the U.S. open to producers and users of rare earth products and allied sovereign governments & agencies.

It would also create a multi-national funding and development platform for Thorium Energy Systems and industrial products open to allied governments / NATO members, users & consumers of energy, IP holders & contributors and private investment.

Energy is the single largest component of global GDP and nearly all other goods and services require or spring from energy: directly or indirectly."

[Xringer]

It seems like the UK might have problems with going to solar and wind..
This guy said the numbers aren't good.. https://youtu.be/sCyidsxIDtQ
David MacKay - final interview and tribute
He seems to have been a believer in nuclear power..