Why Don’t We Have Thorium Molten Salt Reactors Today?

A couple of weeks ago, I gave a speech on the wonders of thorium molten salt reactors to my Toastmasters club.  They were so impressed by the benefits  of the reactor, that they asked why we don't have them today.

That is a great question that deserves a great answer.  I did some research and discovered 8 reasons:

1.     Thorium did not support a bomb cycle.  Fission was discovered in 1939, just at WWII was starting.  "America's Greatest Generation" as some like to call them, chose to use the new discovery to create weapons of mass destruction.  The thorium fuel cycle was ignored because it did not lend itself to the building of bombs; uranium and plutonium did.  Therefore, those fuels were developed and later turned to peaceful uses. 

2.      Right after WWII US Navy Admiral Rickover wanted an atomic powered submarine.  For expeditious reasons he chose solid, uranium fueled reactors.  This was partly because of the precious decisions made by the Manhattan project, which developed the uranium and plutonium bombs used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  This also led to the design (uranium and solid fuel) of the first commercial nuclear power plant at Shippingport, PA. 

3.      This further established vendors in the nuclear industry as providers of solid fuel for uranium light water reactors. 

4.      Since the Manhattan project, scientists had underestimated the world's supply of uranium.  There turned out to be a lot more than they thought. 

5.      However, this supposed shortage of uranium led the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) to develop liquid metal fast breeder reactors using uranium instead of thermal spectrum reactors using thorium.  Again thorium got snubbed. 

6.      Of course, the need for ever more plutonium for bombs during the cold War also figured greatly into the decision to develop liquid metal fast breeders. 

7.      This was one major reason the thorium molten salt project at Oak Ridge National Lab was canceled, even though the benefits of the reactor were touted by the developers.  The molten salt reactor was canceled to free up more funds for the liquid metal fast breeder reactor. 

8.      Abundant, clean, limitless fuel for mass prosperity across the world.  Does ExxonMobil really want this?  What about the rest of the oil companies?  Do you think they want to see their revenue decline by a factor of about a *million? The world consumes about 85 million barrels per day at about ~$100 per barrel that equals about $3.1 trillion per year, for oil alone.  What about coal and gas companies?  Here are the top 10 oil companies in the world.  Notice that Exxon is number 5 at nearly $500 billion per year in revenue.

1.      Saudi Aramco

2.      National Iranian Oil Company

3.      Petroleos Mexicanos

4.      Iraq National Oil Company

5.      Exxon Mobil ($490 billion revenue in 2011)

6.      BP

7.      Petrochina

8.      Abu Dhabi National Oil Company

9.      Kuwait Oil

10.  Petroleos de Venezuela

*I figured that oil company revenue would decline by a factor equal to the density factor between chemical reactions and nuclear reactions; about a million.  Nuclear is a million times more concentrated than chemical fuel (coal, gas, and oil).  So, a million times less fuel is needed.

Now you see why the coal, gas, and oil companies are always sponsoring negative reporting about nuclear power - raw, self interest masquerading as "green" concern for the planet against evil radiation.

Double Bonus Nuclear Field Trip

A recent business trip took me to Huntsville, Alabama where I used the opportunity to do a little sightseeing between work obligations.


I called ahead to arrange a lunch meeting with Kirk Sorensen and Kirk Dorius of Flibe Energy, promoters  and developers of the Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor (LFTR).


They gave me their address and luckily it was close to my business location.  I couldn't find the suite, but I knew I was close when I saw this license plate in the parking lot.

I didn't end up having time for lunch, but I was able to chat with both Kirks for over an hour.  Kirk Sorensen started Flibe Energy to commercially develop LFTRs.  He also has a FB page and website, both called Energy from Thorium.  I recommend both to educate yourself about the benefits of thorium power.

L to R: Kirk Dorius, The Author, Kirk Sorensen

Great poster on the isotopes of the periodic table

The other part of the field trip was a visit to Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant, which is about 35 miles West of Hunstville and North of Decatur on the Tennessee River.

Of course, I couldn't really take any better photos than these, but at least I saw it.  This is the plant that was forced to reduce power during the heat wave last summer because the Tennessee River was a tenth of a degree too hot near the cooling outlet of the plant.  I guess some feddle gummint regulation came into effect.  (Or maybe it was just a conspiracy to burn more coal {wink, wink clean coal}, since the TVA had to purchase power from somewhere, most likely not nuclear to makeup the shortfall.)

 

Price Point

I asked the following impertinent question to some colleagues at work:  Is there a price point for energy (reflected in the cost of gasoline, electricity, and natural gas) at which Americans will drop their resistance to nuclear power, suppress their irrational (I believe) fears and embrace nuclear power?  Or, is there a price at which Americans will demand access to abundant nuclear power, in spite of the studious anti-nuclear disinformation of entrenched self interests?


Here are the answers I got:

With the exception of one outlier, the answers ranged from 2.3 to 10 times the current retail price of gasoline, electricity, and natural gas.  (The prices will be adjusted in terms of constant 2012 dollars.)  


The outlier said that there is no price that will prompt Americans to accept nuclear power.  "Myth trumps logic," he said.  Let's hope he is wrong.

Fukushima

I want to refer my readers to an excellent article on the difference between the performance of the Fukushima Daiichi and Fukushima Daini reactors to the earthquake and tsunami.

As the blog explains, Daiichi means number 1 and Daini means number 2.  Daiichi was built first by about a decade or more and Daini was built later.  The reactors at Daini fared better in the same earthquake and tsunami than those at Daiichi because designers added to their experience in the intervening decade.

Fukushima Daini was built three decades ago.  Reactor designs have continued their evolution and Generation III and III+ reactors have passive safety features that prevent the problems that Daiichi had due to the earthquake and tsunami.

Molten Salt Thorium reactors (LFTRs) take these passive, physics based safety features even one step better.

My point is that nuclear power is here to stay unless we want to return to the standard of living of our distant ancestors.  As somebody once said, "The stone age didn't end because the world ran out of stones".  And the oil age may or may not end before the world runs out of petroleum, but the energy locked inside the nucleus of thorium can cleanly provide power to all of humanity at western standards for millions of years.  (BTW there is enough thorium in the Continental US for America to have real energy independence.)

 

Nuclear Power is Still the Best Alternative Fuel

Even though nuclear power has been brutalized in the studiously ignorant media blitz following the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, it is still the only viable power source for mankind.  That is if you believe that all six billion of us deserve electric power at Western standards.

Gywneth Cravens wrote a great editorial that outlines why nuclear power is still the best alternative.  I highly recommend it.  She says it better than I could.

Reliable Sources of Info Regarding Fukushima Reactors

 I copied this entire blog from Depleted Cranium. Like drbuzzO says, I can't keep up with the misinformation coming out of the press.  He says the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum is THE primary source of information about the Fukushima reactors.


TEPCO Press Room – Frequently updated English language press releases from the plant’s operators on the latest state of the reactors.

MIT Nuclear Information Service – Blog-style posts providing expert analysis and information written in layperson’s terminology with good explanations.   Highly recommended.   Rational and direct.

International Atomic Energy Agency – Contains regular press releases on confirmed information relating to the Fukushima reactors. Also provides information on confirmed injuries relating to the nuclear plant. At this time there are no confirmed cases of acute radiation poisoning, though workers have been injured in the explosions at the plant.

Japan Atomic Industrial Forum (English Language Site) – Frequent updates on status of reactors. This site provides some of the best primary information as soon as it is avaliable on both the reactor conditions and efforts underway to address problems. This is the primary source of information used to provide the concise “Status Updates” updates, which are hosted by HPS.
(note that this is not a “forum” in the sense of an internet discussion board)

Health Physics Society – In addition to having updates on the Fukushima, HPS is by far the best site to go to for reference information on the health effects of ionizing radiation, the measurement of radiation, safety issues and other important background info. HPS provides exceptionally well-written and understandable references for media and laypersons.

Fukushima Status Updates – Provided by the Health Physics Society and the Japan Atomic Information Forum, this PDF document is updated whenever new information on the status of the reactors become available. As of this writing, three reactors are severely damaged but stable. All reactors at the nearby Fukushima-2 plant are safe and relatively undamaged. This document offers the best concise rundown of status.

Fukushima Nuclear Reactors

First of all, my prayers and best wishes to the people of Japan after this horrible earthquake and tsunami.

Huge amounts of disinformation are being spread by professional anti-nukes with axes to grind about the Fukushima nuclear reactors and the efforts to cool them, post-shutdown.

As usual, some excellent blogs are already out there that put these nuclear issues into perspective.  I highly recommend them.  Please take a few minutes and check them out.

Atomic Insights
Energy from Thorium
Deplete Cranium
Pop Atomic Studios
World Nuclear News 
Brave New Climate