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 ...
The entire article is full of bunk and mis-information.
The only way to get the massive power is from nuclear fission. Thorium CAN’T fission....it can be “seed material” in a Light Water Breeder Reactor - and it becomes U-233 (which is fissionable) when it absorbs a neutron. The only economical means of bombarding large amounts of Thorium with neutrons is in a nuclear reactor (and a Pressurized Water Reactor would work.) Then ...the seed blankets (say - Thorium in zirconium rods) would be taken out of the reactor and recycled with the Uranium U-233 removed and made into nuclear fuel.
Yes - U-233 reactors have many benefits over standard U-235 fueled reactors ....especially the shorter decay lives.
But - back to the article - no miniature nuclear reactors are going to be powering cars. No energy in Thorium UNLESS it first spends some time in a breeder reactor ...and some expensive (shielded) reprocessing is done.
- - - and - and - a carburetor that gives 100 mpg fuel economy - - - and - and - - - a perpetual motion machine!
Very different times, and very different vehicles. Modern automobiles are far more complex, and require far more tooling and far more setup time for the lines.
null and void wrote:
Yes, it took Detroit weeks or at most months to convert from passenger cars to tanks.
That would be reduced/minimized if the "Thorium" power plant/engine and drive train could be installed on existing platforms with less modification.
Still, todays safety regs, environmental regs and other government meddling in the marketplace add many months or even years to the design, testing and setup time for new vehicle designs.
I guess I hadn't considered that this was part of a stock scam. That's a very real possibility. In Post 67, dsc focuses on a statement that makes me think that's what is going on here.
aquila48 wrote:
I found this comment on one of the website reporting on this to be more credible than the claim:
“What utter twaddle....this has scam written all over it.”
From the article:There's a lot of contradictions and questionable claims in that statement. When anything (even thorium) is heated by an external source, it gets hotter (Duh!), but it also becomes less dense (it expands from the heat). It can’t give off more heat than was put into the material. That would be against the laws of thermodynamics.
The key to the system developed by inventor Charles Stevens, CEO and chairman of Connecticut-based Laser Power Systems, is that when silvery metal thorium is heated by an external source, it becomes so dense its molecules give off considerable heat.
This looks like a scam to bilk investors (future stockholders in this venture) out of their money. It's not the first time a "respectable" publication or website has gotten lazy and printed a press release from one of these scams as "news."
You think?
They don't want us to build a heavily fortified stationary nuke, even if it vital for our country's survival. I'm sure they will see the practicality of this.
On the other hand, not one would pull out in front of you if you are driving one.
Actually, self-generated PLUS grid is the preferred approach. This gives superior reliability of power and a great reduction in transmission loss (since much of the power would be generated close to the users).
Mike Darancette ~ When you park your car(s) in the garage at home you might as well plug them into the grid and generate your own home electricity.
I can see it now, We'd be required to plug in whenever we park the car...
...and a unicorn pony that sh!ts Skittles...
Or even decades. We have the ability we lack the will.
And the permission. Land of the free and home of the brave, my hip pockets.
It’s currently illegal to transport that much radioactive material on the road.
Won’t happen.
“Now we will watch them go after the thorium supplies”
One of the selling points mentioned in this presentation was that thorium was dirt cheap and not hard to come by (even though it is called a rare earth element) You have obviously heard or read some of the same things I have. It’s above my pay grade to decide these things, but it sounded plauseable
“Now we will watch them go after the thorium supplies”
One of the selling points mentioned in this presentation was that thorium was dirt cheap and not hard to come by (even though it is called a rare earth element) You have obviously heard or read some of the same things I have. It’s above my pay grade to decide these things, but it sounded plauseable”
Here is one source of info,the leftie/greenies have this material”Mined” with their propaganda on some searches.
http://www.hardassetsinvestor.com/interviews/1989-thorium-next-gen-nuclear-fuel-.html
Thanks for the ping.
This is nothing. Wait until I prototype an engine powered by unobtainium.
There’s little radiocativity, aluminum foil is a thick enough shield, per the article.
This statement is somewhat misleading. Thorium 232 is an alpha emmiter. Polonium 210 is also an alpha emmiter. A piece of paper, or a piece of foil will shield you from Alpha radiation coming from either substance. Despite this... alpha emmiters can still quite deadly in minute amounts if inhaled, ingested, or injected into the body. Just ask Alexander Litvinenko... oh wait you can’t because he was murdered by the KGB. He ingested 10 micrograms of Polonium 210 which is approximately 200 times the average lethal dose of just 50 nanograms, which is a little less than 2 billionths of an ounce. If you eat, drink, breath, or are injected with less than 2 billionths of an ounce of Polonium 210 you will die from alpha radiation that cannot even penetrate a piece of paper.
Thorium 232 does not emmit as much alpha radiation as Polonium 210 so it is not deadly in minute amounts. I just don’t like reading statements that claim that alpha radiation is not dangerous. It can be if the alpha emmiting substance somehow gets inside of your body.
Thorium reactors are theoretically safer than Uranium reactors. Unfortunately as stated in Wikipedia “thorium requires irradiation and reprocessing before the above-noted advantages of thorium-232 can be realized, which makes thorium fuels more expensive than uranium fuels.” So currently it is just like every other “alternative energy source” much more expensive at this time.
I am very sorry to say that the chances that this article is on the level is probably somewhat less than the chance that you have of winning a hundred million dollars in a lottery. Imagine of the minuteness of 50 nanograms or less than 2 billionths of an ounce. It is the kind of thing that the Obama administration wants to distract you with when your power is turned off on a hot day because the EPA has shut down so many coal fired power plants that they can’t keep up with the demand.
The one I heard being interviewed didn’t come off as a lefty or greenie. Was more of an engineer type . The company he’s started isn’t public but is seeking investors. His companies selling point was city sized reactors rather that the huge regional type.
Very Cool,The one I read about was preprocessing Hot waste,well as generating electric,we are running behind the curve here,also these are factory built units,which cuts the cost way down and they were modular.
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