Safe, Sustainable, Nuclear Power

[tw]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

LFTRs, Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors are the way to go. 5000 tons of thorium could replace all the oil, coal, and natural gas we burn to make power, for a year.

Original plans to make that possible also discussed the shortage of nuclides to support what could have been a fleet of 500 reactors. That is why fast breeder reactors were considered essential. Problem is that nobody has been able to make one work reliably. Fermi 1 is an example of a near nuclear meltdown that almost took out either Chicago or Detriot. Clinch River was a next US attempt that (for reasons I never did learn) was scrapped. Japanese currently have a monoply on much of the world's plutonium in what was hoped to be a new attempt at a fast breeder.

Thorium Uranium is simply another of many experimental reactors that have been considered. Current technology for light water reactors is Uranium Plutonium fuel cycles. Obviously, plutonium creates major human safety problems.