The US is so far behind the Chinese

originally posted by: Bluntone22
a reply to: dfnj2015

Environmentalists turned nuclear into the boogeyman.
Even though it's safe and clean.

And we did fiddle with sodium reactors in the 50's.
The benefit is that the original fuel doesnt need replacement if I remember correctly.

en.m.wikipedia.org...

This one didnt work out so well.

A bit of a stretch to say that nuclear is "safe and clean" when there is still no solution for the byproducts and waste ....and Fukushima ??? safe? ....and the byproducts used for weapons..... NOPE.

a reply to: SeaYote

If you watched the video the fuel spent was nearly 100% efficiency. But forget it. You too smart to see past your own prejudice.

energyfromthorium.com...

50th anniversary of U-233 start of MSRE
OCTOBER 8, 2018KIRK SORENSENBLOG, HISTORY
October 8, 2018, marks the fiftieth anniversary of the operation of the Molten-Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE) using uranium-233 as a fuel. U-233 does not occur naturally; it is formed when thorium absorbs a neutron undergoes a double beta decay to form U-233. U-233 is a superior nuclear fuel, producing enough neutrons through its fission (whether by a fast or thermal neutron) to allow sufficient conversion of thorium to U-233 to replace its consumption. That makes it very unique and very valuable.
Alvin Weinberg and the other researchers on the Molten-Salt Reactor Program (MSRP) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) recognized this property of U-233 and sought to demonstrate its actual use in a real nuclear reactor. The MSRE was designed for this purpose. When the MSRE was first brought to criticality in June 1965, this was a great accomplishment, but the MSRP researchers had something more in mind. Therefore, after a few years of operation, they removed the initial uranium inventory from the reactor by fluorination and replaced it with uranium-233.
it was Seaborg who had a led of team of chemists at the University of California, Berkeley, to discover uranium-233 in the early days of the Manhattan Project. Seaborg was the first person to grasp the potential of thorium as an energy source when he received information about the performance of uranium-233 in the ORNL Graphite Reactor in late 1944.

Are we really behind China here? Maybe China just stole another US secret and started development later.

I watched a documentary ( link below) about molten salt reactors a few years back, I don't completely remember its contents but I remember my closing thought was we "the USA" really dropped the ball on this front, and I hoped China would keep working on it.

www.youtube.com...

The doc covers everything you could possibly want to know about the history of molten salt reactors if I remember correctly.

originally posted by: SKEPTEK
Wonder how much of that technology they stole from others?

I'm betting a LARGE majority.

Is that not the same for all culture. We all stand on the shoulders of each other.

originally posted by: SeaYote
A bit of a stretch to say that nuclear is "safe and clean" when there is still no solution for the byproducts and waste ....and Fukushima ??? safe? ....and the byproducts used for weapons..... NOPE.

Didn't bother to listen or read before posting, eh?

The benefits of Thorium reactors over traditional are staggering...

In short...

No risk of meltdown (they do not require electricity/water for cooling), even in worst case scenario (earthquake cracks the reactor in half).

Uses 99% of the fuel, vs ~2% in an LWR.

Waste is safe within 350 years

And one of the biggest in my opinion...

Can CONSUME EXISTING NUCLEAR WASTE STOCKPILES

a reply to: Lumenari

But oil won't go anywhere unless we get rid of a lot of things.

Like plastic.

Like Saudi Arabia.

There are obviously many people eminently more qualified than I to comment on this subject here on ATS but I thought Nuclear Fusion was viewed as the Holy Grail of energy sources?