The Conservative Cave
Interests => The Science Club => Topic started by: thundley4 on December 31, 2009, 03:23:02 PM
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Wired Magazine (http://www.wired.com/magazine/2009/12/ff_new_nukes/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+wired/index+(Wired:+Index+3+(Top+Stories+2)))
Cheap, safe nuclear fuel with almost none of the drawbacks of conventional nuclear power? What's the catch?
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Wired Magazine (http://www.wired.com/magazine/2009/12/ff_new_nukes/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+wired/index+(Wired:+Index+3+(Top+Stories+2)))
Cheap, safe nuclear fuel with almost none of the drawbacks of conventional nuclear power? What's the catch?
It sounds spooky so the greens will never go for it.
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Wired Magazine (http://www.wired.com/magazine/2009/12/ff_new_nukes/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+wired/index+(Wired:+Index+3+(Top+Stories+2)))
Cheap, safe nuclear fuel with almost none of the drawbacks of conventional nuclear power? What's the catch?
I'm asking the same question. Perhaps it's a matter of, shall we say, the energy-density, i.e., perhaps the reactions don't generate useable energy in the same way that, say, burning a gallon of gasoline produces a lot of useable energy.
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Alpha-emitter. Yeah, nasty shit, that Thorium. And really not fissionable per se until you get it to U-233 (aka, a thermal fuel) in a breeder process, has a half-life of about 12 BILLION years, and of course reprocessing hasn't been done in this country since the Carter administration.
--The fuel costs to separate the U-233 from the Th-232 are high.
--Impurities in the U-233 result in very high doses due to short-lived high-energy gamma emitters such as Thallium 208.
--Again, recycling issue with Th-228.
--Uranium is still more easily converted into nuclear fuel and still abundant enough to make Thorium impractical.
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Alpha-emitter. Yeah, nasty shit, that Thorium. And really not fissionable per se until you get it to U-233 (aka, a thermal fuel) in a breeder process, has a half-life of about 12 BILLION years, and of course reprocessing hasn't been done in this country since the Carter administration.
--The fuel costs to separate the U-233 from the Th-232 are high.
--Impurities in the U-233 result in very high doses due to short-lived high-energy gamma emitters such as Thallium 208.
--Again, recycling issue with Th-228.
--Uranium is still more easily converted into nuclear fuel and still abundant enough to make Thorium impractical.
Bingo! I didn't think it was just another perpetual motion machine somebody had overlooked.
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Gas lantern mantles , like those used in Coleman lanterns and even in the old fashioned gas street lamps used to be made use Thorium. That's what gave them that nice bright glow.