Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

U.S. Researcher Preparing Prototype Cars Powered by Heavy-Metal Thorium
WardsAuto.com ^ | Aug 11, 2011 | Keith Nuthall

Posted on 08/13/2011 7:13:31 PM PDT by Oiao

A U.S. company says it is getting closer to putting prototype electric cars on the road that will be powered by the heavy-metal thorium (Steam Electric 250MW)... with prototype in two years....never needs refueled.

(Excerpt) Read more at wardsauto.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Miscellaneous; Technical
KEYWORDS: electriccars; energy; energyindependence; mrfusion; oil; thorium
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-96 next last
To: buccaneer81

For God’s sake man, I’m a Doctor, not a magician...””


21 posted on 08/13/2011 7:35:18 PM PDT by jessduntno (Obama shanks. America tanks.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

BEYOND DISGUSTED WITH IT ALL?

If you haven’t yet in these 44 days, please donate whatever you can to help Free Republic continue to fight for America and end this FReepathon. No amount is too small.

**please click the pic to donate .. thank you very much!!**
(PS: A generous FReeper will add $10 for every *new monthly donor*-- no matter the amount-- multiplying your donation!)

22 posted on 08/13/2011 7:35:18 PM PDT by STARWISE (The overlords are in place .. we are a nation under siege .. pray, go Galt & hunker down)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: buccaneer81
Thorium is what’s going to get astronauts to Mars and beyond.?

Uranium could have gotten us there in the 1970's. NASA had developed a successful nuclear upper stage engine.

These days they are looking at developing a plasma engine that could get us there in two months.

23 posted on 08/13/2011 7:35:57 PM PDT by Moonman62 (The US has become a government with a country, rather than a country with a government.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: buccaneer81

250MW should be sufficient to power a medium sized city
lets say, about 200,000 people


24 posted on 08/13/2011 7:38:07 PM PDT by HangnJudge
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: Oiao
Runs on grain.

Creates fertilizer.

You can drive drunk as a skunk and make it home safely.

Costs far less than a new car.

Lasts at least twice as long as a new car.

Can make it through 18 inches of unplowed snow.

Can ford rivers.

Can pull a wagon.

Can make it through 6 inches of mud.


25 posted on 08/13/2011 7:39:01 PM PDT by PieterCasparzen (We need to fix things ourselves)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: aquila48

Agree. Thought the MW was out there too.


26 posted on 08/13/2011 7:39:30 PM PDT by Oiao
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: HangnJudge
You'll need 5 of them to get to the 1.21 gigawatts needed to power the time machine in Back to the Future.

To put the 250 MW in more common engine terms, that would be 335,000 horsepower.

Because thorium is so dense, similar to uranium, it stores considerable potential energy:

I call BS. Density isn't related to potential nuclear energy. Also thorium has a density of 11.72 g/cm3. Compare that to uranium at 18.95 g/cm3. Other common elements are lead at 11.342 g/cm3, gold at 19.282 g/cm3 and tungsten with 19.25 g/cm3.

27 posted on 08/13/2011 7:39:58 PM PDT by KarlInOhio (The Repubs and Dems are arguing whether to pour 9 or 10 buckets of gasoline on a burning house.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Figment

“Heard some interesting stuff on a company touting thorium electrical generating plants the other day. Seems the research was done at Oak Ridge, but was written off because you couldn’t build nuclear weapons from it. Sounded promising”

Thats what ,I read and this technology was not used,The Chinese are basing their next generation of power plants on this and expect to have some online in 5 years, Now we will watch them go after the thorium supplies.


28 posted on 08/13/2011 7:41:27 PM PDT by Cheetahcat ( November 4 2008 ,A date that will live in Infamy.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]


29 posted on 08/13/2011 7:41:40 PM PDT by devolve (. . . . . . . . . . . . . Yeah - I know I said days - not weeks in Libya . . . . . . .)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: cc2k

the energy process, as described in the article, seems relatively straightforward. heat from the thorium powers a laser that turns water into steam for a turbine. There’s little radiocativity, aluminum foil is a thick enough shield, per the article.


30 posted on 08/13/2011 7:42:32 PM PDT by balch3
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: aquila48

It’s not encouraging when
an article on an engineering breakthrough
gets their units wrong...


31 posted on 08/13/2011 7:44:15 PM PDT by HangnJudge
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: aquila48

Now that makes sense.


32 posted on 08/13/2011 7:44:37 PM PDT by buccaneer81 (ECOMCON)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: jessduntno

LOL!


33 posted on 08/13/2011 7:45:14 PM PDT by buccaneer81 (ECOMCON)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: cripplecreek; jessduntno; PieterCasparzen; All

LOLOL (Lots Of Laugh Out Louds)! Humorous and informative thread. Thanks to every poster.

Potential GRRRRREAT news BUMP!


34 posted on 08/13/2011 7:46:19 PM PDT by PGalt
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: Moonman62

Thorium is much less of a risk than uranium. The “fear” had to do with a misfire that would have had that upperstage crashing back to Earth on somebody with some hot stuff.


35 posted on 08/13/2011 7:46:51 PM PDT by muawiyah
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: Oiao

Thorium Reactor
36 posted on 08/13/2011 7:46:51 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (Regulation is government control of capital, and government control of capital is socialism.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GoDuke

Bfl.


37 posted on 08/13/2011 7:47:18 PM PDT by GoDuke
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]

To: Paladin2

TIG electrodes are 2% thorium, and there about $6 ea... Many car headlights have 1% thorium in the filaments. As far as I know it’s not ever recycled...

Doesn’t sound expensive to me.


38 posted on 08/13/2011 7:48:46 PM PDT by babygene (Figures don't lie, but liars can figure...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: HangnJudge
Ever heard the story of Air Canada Flight 143?

Or the NASA probe that splattered all over the surface of Mars?

Both the result of the wrong UOMs being used.

39 posted on 08/13/2011 7:50:25 PM PDT by buccaneer81 (ECOMCON)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: Cheetahcat

India just brought a thorium reactor online. We should be leading the way on this. We invented it at Oak Ridge back in the 1950’s.


40 posted on 08/13/2011 7:51:30 PM PDT by Texas Mulerider (Rap music: hieroglyphics with a beat.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-96 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson