[Årne Longbörgenssen]

http://www.wired.com/magazine/2009/12/ff_new_nukes/

[SeaCliff]

Thorium!!

[RayG]

42

[Shacky]

great article.  why didn't you send this to me as usual?  come on man!

[SeaCliff]

All kidding aside, it seriously is an excellent article....makes you wonder if we havent been sitting on the answer for decades....

[Årne Longbörgenssen]

great article.  why didn't you send this to me as usual?  come on man!

Two birds with one stone.




As to thorium...


It boggles my mind why this hasnt been jumped on. Global warming (nuclear energy doesnt contribute), nuclear proliferation (thorium reactors don't produce fissionable materials, and you can get rid of fissionable materials in them), nuclear waste (thorium reactors produce waste with half lives orders of magnitude shorter than uranium reactors), dependance on foreign energy (we've got enough thorium to power the entire country for about 1000 years), unemployment (put everyone to work building a new national grid, and thorium reactors) and, most importantly, easy livin' for the longoboardies (when the stock in the only public thorium technology company [LTBR] explodes, i retire)


what we need is for obama to make a kennedyesque speech, ala putting first the first man on the moon combined with a peaceful manhattan project sense of purpose and a pinch of WPA vibe.


but, what we'll probably do is sit on our asses and make dumb trybrid gas/solar/wind powered suv's, while china and india lead the nuclear renaissance

[the Kook]

great article.  why didn't you send this to me as usual?  come on man!

Two birds with one stone.




As to thorium...


It boggles my mind why this hasnt been jumped on. Global warming (nuclear energy doesnt contribute), nuclear proliferation (thorium reactors don't produce fissionable materials, and you can get rid of fissionable materials in them), nuclear waste (thorium reactors produce waste with half lives orders of magnitude shorter than uranium reactors), dependance on foreign energy (we've got enough thorium to power the entire country for about 1000 years), unemployment (put everyone to work building a new national grid, and thorium reactors) and, most importantly, easy livin' for the longoboardies (when the stock in the only public thorium technology company [LTBR] explodes, i retire)


what we need is for obama to make a kennedyesque speech, ala putting first the first man on the moon combined with a peaceful manhattan project sense of purpose and a pinch of WPA vibe.


but, what we'll probably do is sit on our asses and make dumb trybrid gas/solar/wind powered suv's, while china and india lead the nuclear renaissance

Perhaps we should use this as an alternative in the LNG fight.

[RayG]

So, what happens in 3010 when the Thorium runs out?

[Årne Longbörgenssen]

So, what happens in 3010 when the Thorium runs out?

while the moon may not be made out of cheese....


...."The Gamma-ray Spectrometer measured this radiation from lunar orbit to produce maps of the abundances of thorium, iron, and titanium on the lunar surface."


(http://www.lpi.usra.edu/lunar/missions/apollo/apollo_15/experiments/gamma_ray/)

[Årne Longbörgenssen]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/patrick-takahashi/there-is-something-about_b_410825.html

[Årne Longbörgenssen]

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-01-29/obama-said-to-seek-54-billion-in-nuclear-power-loan-guarantees.html

[SeaCliff]

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-01-29/obama-said-to-seek-54-billion-in-nuclear-power-loan-guarantees.html

Yes - but do the plans include thorium - or is this money targeted for more uranium plants that they will try to make more environmentally friendly?

Here's my impression: Thorium has an image problem. It (Thorium) sounds like a sci-fi invention, like DiLithium Crystals. I think the general public has no idea it actually exists, and if not for the cold war and the "need" to produce uranium and uranium technology for nuclear weapons, that Thorium power plants would have been developed and in operation for decades already - producing cheap and wildly safer energy, and changing the entire landscape of the country's energy issues.

[Årne Longbörgenssen]

Yes - but do the plans include thorium - or is this money targeted for more uranium plants that they will try to make more environmentally friendly?

Well, considering that Daniel Poneman, Obama's appointee to Deputy Secretary of the Department of Energy used to be on Lightbridge's (formerly known as Thorium Power's) international advisory board I'd be surprised if there weren't some provision for thorium developement in this wad of cash. Let's not also forget that John Holdren, Obama's science advisor is a thorium proponent.


...and then there's the Thorium Energy Independence and Security Act of 2008. (Click the link. If you think nynjsurf.com is a fun place to hang out, you haven't partied with the folks over at energyfromthorium.com)


as to "Thorium"....that's why the company changed its name to "Lightbridge" from Thorium Power. On a related note, I've been writing letters to the World Science Organization to have the name of the element changed from "Thorium" to "Caramellium", but I haven't made much headway.

[Harry Balzsac]

I miss Mario.  Thorium's nifty and everything, but did you know J.D. Salinger just died?  I started a thread about it.  It has masturbation jokes.  You're a shrink, not a physicist. 

[SeaCliff]

I miss Mario.  Thorium's nifty and everything, but did you know J.D. Salinger just died?  I started a thread about it.  It has masturbation jokes.  You're a shrink, not a physicist. 

Excellent point.

Mario's musings are sorely missed. And you're a little off, Bubba: he's a comic-shrink, not a physicist. 

Come back to us, Mario - heck, the farking room here is named after you!