In light of what happened at 3 mile Island, Chernobyl, and now Japan, it is clear how vulnerable and dangerous uranium based nuclear plants have become. Now just imagine there is any major war involving the possibility of a missile, terrorist, or covert attack on a nuclear plant. In a matter of days the entire nation would be in chaos and panic.
So why are we not using Thorium nuclear reactors like India has begun to do? We all know that Thorium based plasma batteries are very safe with extremely long lives and reliability. We have experienced the higher energy density cores of these batteries as evidenced by the military's preference for these batteries.
So if Thorium is the first choice of the U.S. military it should also be the first choice for public energy. Here is why:
1. Uranium plants are the most hazardous on Earth with catastrophic melt-down consequences.(It is impossible for a Thorium nuclear plant to have such a melt-down)
2. Thorium has a an energy density that is at least 20% more than uranium thus providing higher energy output and for longer period of time.
3. Thorium does nnot present the contamination and disposal problems that uranium has historically caused mankind.
4. Thorium is far more abundant and cheaper to obtain than uranium and 80% of Thorium deposits are in America.
5. It is not practical to use Thorium for nuclear weaponry, so when countries like Iran or perhaps Libya demand the right for nuclear power, a Thorium plant can be built without fear of a secret weapons program.
So I would like to hear back from academia or someone at the DoE to get some rational explanation as to why General Electric, and all the other nuclear giants are not shifting over to Thorium. Until they do, every nuclear plant using uranium fuel rods is a disaster waiting to happen whenever Mother Nature or a terrorist decides to strike.
