China, on the other hand, is working on LFTR. LWR, is the ATARI 2600 of reactors. IF LFTR works out, they will apply for IP. If it can be done on an assembly line process, and with its inherit benefits, high pressure reactors will become expensive dinosaurs.
Expensive toys with huge infrastructure costs vs LFTR’s simpler design and costs (and side benefits).
Why should the US do research on LFTR...it’s apples to oranges to them. Their history/infrastructure is on Uranium. Thorium is getting noticed in China, Japan, Czech Rep, Canada and others.
HTGR....only time will tell on that. It too has its design challenges.
I’d say, competition of ideas is good.
If it’s done in the US, it won’t be done by the “usual suspects”. I’d predict a consortium of special interests, academics and investors (from multiple countries).
If the world had switched to Thorium 40 years ago countries like Afghanistan wouldn’t have the bomb today.
When the Atoms for Peace initiative was begun it should have begun with Thorium. All of these countries that got their free Research Reactors from Uncle Sam or the USSR they immediately started work on converting them to weapons production. This could have been avoided by only giving thorium reactors to these developing countries.
Even if we wanted to use Uranium in the US we could have had Thorium reactors for export.