Could The Element Thorium Be A Big Energy Source?

Some people think so..

Its atomic number is 90 and it has some interesting properties.  It occurs in large quantities and is very minimally radioactive.  With the world in a perpetual quest for energy, people are looking to alternative sources.  Although this one is not discussed often, there are some people who think it is worth a look.

Here is the opinion of a couple scientists who are in the camp of using thorium as an energy source:

After studying the feasibility of using thorium, nuclear scientists Ralph W. Moir and Edward Teller suggested that thorium nuclear research should be restarted after a three-decade shutdown and that a small prototype plant should be built.[4][5][6] Research and development of thorium-based nuclear reactors, primarily the liquid fluoride thorium reactor, (LFTR), MSR design, has been or is now being done in India, China, Norway, U.S., Israel and Russia.

What do you think?  Is this viable or dangerous?  Feel free to comment.

thanks to James St. John for the pic



5 Comments

  1. Eric Myers said:

    They made thorium reactors in the 70s it was clean but not easy. New technology has had a resurgence in it. There’s no radioactive waste

  2. Eric Myers said:

    It’s also a matter of being easier to use uranium, more unstable. But easy doesn’t work the best. I’d like to see thorium reactors and renewable energy sources. Coal and oil are killing the planet not to mention any nuclear accidents like Chernobyl or fujikashima

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