The term "breakthrough" is a bit of an overstatement, since Thorium reactors have been around since the 50's. When I worked at the Westinghouse Naval Reactors Faclility at INEL in the early 80's we took receipt of a Thorium reactor core that had been operated for a few years as a test by the Duquesne Power company. NRF cut it up and tested to see if it actually did breed (it did).
The real reason for the current emergent interest in Thorium cycle reactors is cost. Thorium is more abundant than Uranium, more efficient as a breeder fuel, and supposedly generates less waste. Check out what our friends at Wikipedia have to say: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breeder_reactor --Doug On Sun, Feb 7, 2010 at 12:56 PM, Owen Densmore <[email protected]> wrote: > Anyone know if thorium is really a breakthrough in terms of nuclear power? > http://www.technologyreview.com/printer_friendly_article.aspx?id=19758 > > -- Owen > > > >
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