India's Thorium cycle catches world's eye post Japanese nuke disaster

CNBC TV18 ^

[fred2008]

Thorium reactors can burn most of our spent fuel while producing electricity.

LFTRS are a terrific solution to many problems.

[Straight Vermonter]

Estimated world thorium resources

(Reasonably assured and inferred resources recoverable at up to $80/kg Th)

Country	Tonnes	% of total
Australia	489,000	19
USA	400,000	15
Turkey	344,000	13
India	319,000	12
Venezuela	300,000	12
Brazil	302,000	12
Norway	132,000	5
Egypt	100,000	4
Russia	75,000	3
Greenland	54,000	2
Canada	44,000	2
South Africa	18,000	1
Other countries	33,000	1
World total	2,610,000

Very little exploration for thorium has been done since it currently has little commercial use. There is likely much more thorium to be found.

[Straight Vermonter]

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Sancho1984. This may be a repost.

[Tramonto]

Wow, there is a lot of Thorium along the state borders.

[tony549]

A google search yielded this: http://energyfromthorium.com/2006/06/22/1972-summary-of-ornl-fluoride-reactor-evolution/

I was trained as a nuclear engineer and knew about the ORNL MSRE experiment conducted in the 60’s. IMHO molten salt breeder reactors would be a welcome addition to US nuclear power, but there are engineering challenges that need to be overcome to bring this design to fruition. I think that we’ll end up buying Thorium reactors from the Indians, unfortunately. They have a prototype that may be operational as early as next year.

[Cronos]

I didn't know much about thorium reactors until this article -- am now reading this wikipedia article