Thorium – Safer and Greener Nuclear Energy

Recent Developments in Liquid-Fluoride Thorium Salt-Reactors end.

Thorium - Safer and Greener Nuclear Energy Alternative

Thorium – Safer and Greener Nuclear Energy Alternative

According to today’s thorium advocates, these new reactor designs offer several potential advantages over the typical uranium fuel cycle – including a much greater abundance in available mineral resources, as well as superior physical and nuclear handling fuel properties, along with reduced nuclear waste production.

Peace loving technologists will also point out the lack of potential weaponization as being one key advantage, causing many previous nuclear energy skeptics to take another serious look at thorium. Being a truly green energy source, thorium has the potential use as an alternative, much safer nuclear fuel, which would allow us to reduce our reliance far more dangerous minerals, such as uranium and plutonium, to generate our nuclear power.

Some proponents would go so far as to say thorium is essential to developing the next generation of long term nuclear power infrastructure. Currently, there is tremendous interest in practical research and development of thorium-based nuclear reactors all around the world. These are primarily the liquid fluoride variety of thorium reactors (LFTR), which utilizes a successful molten salt reactor (MSR) design. Several nations will soon have these new reactors under construction, including projects under development in India, China, Norway, Israel and Russia, maybe even someday in the good old United States!