Posted on 05/02/2015 10:21:16 AM PDT by all the best
Here’s another, more recent one: The thorium-turbine powered car.
Heat energy from the thorium – a weakly radioactive element (named after the Norse god Thor) that is estimated to be 3-4 times more naturally abundant than uranium and which contains 20 million times the energy as an equivalent lump of coal – is used to generate steam, which is then used to power a small turbine, which provides the motive force. The beauty of the system is that – like a nuclear submarine – the fuel lasts almost forever. Well, longer than you will last, probably.
How’s 100 years sound?
No more stopping for “gas”… ever.
This alone would make current IC cars seem as wasteful of time (and energy) as current IC cars make electric cars look wasteful of time and energy.
But wait, there’s more.
Well, less.
No emissions at all. Because nothing’s being burned, there’s no exhaust. Water to steam, expansion and contraction – and back again. Closed (and clean) loop. The Algoreans ought to be ecstatic. Yet there is dead silence.
You can hear the crickets chirping.
Is it because thorium is radioactive? The word is third rail to scientifically illiterate homo Americanus – who fears it in the same way a savage fears the voices coming out of the Talk Box (radio). The mere mention of the word is sufficient to incite a panic. It’s why the nuclear power grid is dead in the water; or rather, as old as a Betamax copy of Saturday Night Fever.
But it’s not even the same thing. Thorium is mildly radioactive. Dr. Charles Stevens, CEO of Laser Power Systems – which is developing the technology, or at least, trying to – says: “The radiation can be shielded by a single sheet of aluminum foil.” thorium two
(Excerpt) Read more at ericpetersautos.com ...
There’s no profit in it for anyone. That’s why.
There is always winners and losers, if you are not buying gas you will have that money for other things.
Still, an interesting premise.
Until you bombard it with neutrons and you start creating U232 which is a hard gamma emitter.
With a half life of 68 years, you would be dead before the car rusted out.
This is the chief problem with Thorium energy.
Then a country that is nuke-friendly should pursue this. Maybe the French.
“Very interesting. Thorium is so low-level radioactive it could be shielded with sheet of aluminum foil. “
So can Uranium.
And both decay into Radium.
“A friend of mine has been proposing this for at least 20 years.”
Apparently your friend flunked physics ...
How do you tax it so you can move money from the givers to the takers? That's why there is no response.
“How do you tax it so you can move money from the givers to the takers? That’s why there is no response. “
There is no response because ...
1. The car would require tons and tons of shielding to protect people from radiation.
2. The reactor would cost millions of dollars.
3. The operator would require a license from the NRC.
4. The operator would have to post a hefty ‘decommissioning fee’.
“There is always winners and losers”
The source of the ‘info’ is actively seeking ‘investors’ ...
Winners: Them
Losers: Investors
Thorium decays into Prtoactinuim after neutron bombardment, then to U-233. The best way to start the reaction is by using U-233. So it is not that simple.
Any possibility that an air conditioner sized Thorium reactor (I would love one in my basement - no electric, gas or oil bills for life) will be developed is negated by the regulatory state that protects Uranium reactors. National security you know.
You plug the power plant into your house when the car is at rest. It then provides enough power to electrify and heat/cool your house. One could make you a pretty popular house guest.
Winners and losers were chosen long ago. Uranium reactor makes bomb material, with power as a sideshow. Thorium reactor has no place in the regulatory state. So no matter how good the idea is, a Thorium reactor will never be built as long as the Uranium power industry contributes to federal election campaigns.
“You plug the power plant into your house when the car is at rest. It then provides enough power to electrify and heat/cool your house. One could make you a pretty popular house guest. “
Given that there would probably be a large exclusion area around your vehicle you would probably need at least a thousand foot extension cord.
“Uranium reactor makes bomb material, with power as a sideshow.”
Uranium is a minor factor in fusion bombs. Also, for the last few decades we have been burning up bombs in our reactors.
” Uranium reactor makes bomb material, with power as a sideshow. “
None of the US uranium power reactors are used to supply bomb material.
U-233. How much shielding (say 6 cm of Lead/Alunimum composite to reduce emission to 5/1000ths) do you really need for 8 grams of fuel?
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