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To: Campion

I see what you are saying, but the point is, the cost of overall energy generation is only one benefit.

Things to consider:

Safety: FAR safer
Cost of running: Far less labor intensive
Cost of obtaining Thorium: FAR cheaper and more available for Thorium (which would bring the cost of generation down even further)

I honestly believe there are entities that simply do not want cheap energy. If energy is cheap, manufacturing is going to be cheaper, and more consumer activity will take place.

The Greenies hate industry.


15 posted on 08/16/2023 12:02:22 PM PDT by rlmorel ("If you think tough men are dangerous, just wait until you see what weak men are capable of." JBP)
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To: rlmorel
Usually, if something is more profitable, the private sector would be doing it. I don't see a slew of permit applications being filed to build thorium reactors, and being denied, or approved for that matter.

While the technology is potentially attractive, there's a fairly high startup cost associated with being an early adopter. Just to pick on one item, for example, fabricated thorium fuel elements are probably extremely expensive today, because there's no market for them. (Not much of a market for thorium, period, since they stopped putting it into lantern mantles.)

Now, if you had an already-functioning thorium energy industry, might those thorium fuel elements end up being cheaper than uranium? Yes! But that's a potential savings, not a real one, as of today.

If you want a really mind-blowing tech fantasy, think ... nuclear-powered spacecraft, fueled by thorium, mined from the moon. That's right, based on surveys from orbit, there's believed to be a thorium deposit on the far side of the moon that is something like 3x richer than any thorium ore found on earth.

27 posted on 08/16/2023 2:08:49 PM PDT by Campion (Everything is a grace, everything is the direct effect of our Father's love - Little Flower)
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