probably nothing can be absolutely fail safe by definition, but these molten salt systems cannot fail like Fukishima, or 3 Mile nearly did. Molten salt reactors don’t run away like that as the reaction slows down before reaching critical levels.
They also have far less waste to dispose of for far less time. still an issue, but 80% less waste that only needs ~300 years to break down compared to 10,000 years for conventional is good.
Dont compare Zeppelin safety records with a popcorn maker without looking at how the Molten salt reactors work. we throw more potential energy away with burned coal fly ash that contains thorium than that recovered in burning the coal. This should be the future clean energy until we develop something like fusion.
Ten thousand years? Is that the Fukushima meltdown situation?
Of course nothing is absolutely fail safe but the technology should be reasonably safe and I still do not think these fission reactors are reasonably safe. I think they’re getting closer but there’s still too little margin for error. 300 years to break down is way too long IMO. And the administration can apparently decide to go with the traditional rather than the newer molten salt reactors if they feel they’ll get better results. So the average Joe living in the vicinity of one of these reactors doesn’t know what he’s got nearby.
It would be wonderful if they could figure out a way to harness a cost-effective fusion reactor.