It eliminates the safety concerns of traditional nuclear power. That means thorium energy has the potential to produce more energy than any current traditional fossil-fuel based option, current nuclear technologies, and renewable power resources.Ħ. Current nuclear technologies can achieve an efficiency rate of about 5% with its fuel. With thorium waste, the estimated time is just 300 years.Ī thorium reactor can produce efficiency levels as high as 98%. Current estimates for nuclear storage are up to 100,000 years of maintenance. At the same time, when thorium is added to current nuclear waste, the storage time for the waste is reduced. That means the waste products that are currently in storage could be used again as a power source. One of the unique benefits of a thorium reactor is that it can be mixed with current nuclear wastes that are produced. It eliminates the threat of nuclear waste.
Their waste burner design, for example, is small enough that it can fit inside a standard shipping container.Ĥ.
Copenhagen Atomics believes that thorium reactors could be produced on an assembly line. It is a technology that can be mass-produced.Īlthough thorium reactors have a high initial start-up cost, those costs can be reduced with proper manufacturing techniques. In the U.S., there is an estimated supply of thorium that could meet current energy needs for the next 1,000 years.ģ. Future generations would be able to benefit from this technology and it would be able to fuel innovation in many different industries because the threat of a power shortage would be effectively eliminated. That would provide the world with enough fuel to power reactors with this element for several centuries. Thorium is believed to have at least 3 times more availability than uranium. When irradiated, thorium produces uranium-232 initially and that disrupts the reaction process for current nuclear weapon technologies. There would be fewer comparisons with these facilities operational about which leader has the bigger button to push. That means the malicious step to modify energy fuel into a nuclear weapon goes away with this technology. It eliminates the threat of nuclear weapons.Īlthough a standard thorium reactor is fueled uranium-233 isotope, there is no need for uranium enrichment with this technology. Here are some additional key points to think about when looking at the pros and cons of a thorium reactor. The materials used to process these materials must be able to withstand its harshness. It creates a molten salt mixture that is highly corrosive. There is minimal pollution, despite the slightly radioactive nature of the element and its unstable nature.Īs for the primary disadvantage of a thorium reactor, the toxic and radioactive elements must be properly handled to create the zero-pollution footprint. When operating, it produces zero greenhouse gas emissions.
The primary advantage of a thorium reactor is that it is extremely friendly to the environment. It was first discovered in 1829 by Morten Thrane Esmark, an amateur mineralogist from Norway. Thorium is weakly radioactive, has a high melting point, and is available with more abundance than uranium as an element. It is fueled by the uranium-233 isotope that is taken from the element thorium. A thorium reactor is a form of nuclear energy, proposed for use as a molten salt reactor.
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