thorium archives - planet forward - 克罗地亚vs加拿大让球

is there a practical form of nuclear fusion?

thu, 11 oct 2012 11:30:03 +0000

u-233 ignited pacer fusion
practical fusion to fully power the planet longer than the earth has existed or the sun will burn

the complete conversion of deuterium nuclear fuel releases an energy content of 250 x 10^15 joules per metric ton of deuterium. the quantity of deuterium in the world’s oceans is estimated at 4.6 x 10^13 metric tons. deuterium present in seawater will yield around 5 x 10^11 tw-year of energy. in the year 2011 the entire planet consumed around 16 tw-years of energy, which means that the energy content of the deuterium in seawater would be enough for 31 billion years of energy supply.

to give all 10 billion people expected to live on the planet in 2050 the level of energy prosperity we in the developed world are used to, a continuous average use of power of 6 kilowatts per person as is typical in europe, we would need to generate 60 terawatts as a planet—the equivalent of 900 million barrels of oil per day.

in view of the enormous amount of deuterium available, it is important that we learn to use the d-d fusion reaction in the long term, and thorium ignited pacer fusion is the most practical form of fusion today that is capable of economically supplying large gigawatt levels of power safely without requiring decades of additional development.

the time since the earth first formed = 4.54 billion years.
the time until the sun burns out = 5 billion years.

the deuterium in the sea is capable of completely powering planet earth at a level of 60 terawatts for 8.33 billion years (longer than the earth has existed or the sun will burn).

http://www.yottawatts.net

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a new type of nuclear power?

tue, 03 jul 2012 07:00:05 +0000

here’s a new development on the nuclear power front. the technology involves small ceramic balls infused with thorium that are case hardened and emit very little heat. thorium is currently being touted by scientists as a much better alternative to uranium-based nuclear power, which has been the traditional metal used in the process. thorium is safer, produces less waste, and is also more difficult to convert into nuclear weapons. as for the energy-harvesting process, thorium balls won’t break, have half the half-life of uranium, less storage problems, and are also very clean. the balls are also compact and powerful.

after the nuclear disaster in japan, thorium’s gained more exposure as a cleaner, safer alternative to uranium. if this technology exists, do we have to wait for the planet to melt-down (pardon the way too realistic pun) before we go to it?

photo credit to paul j. everett.

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using thorium energy to address environmental problems

thu, 22 apr 2010 17:30:00 +0000

use of 1 pound of thorium nuclear fuel replaces the burning of 3 million pounds of coal and prevents the production of 11 million pounds of co2. the 1 pound of fission product waste produced from burning 1 pound of thorium fuel decays to safety within 400 years (83% of the fission products from thorium decay to the level of the natural background in 10 years). usa used no thorium fuel to produce energy in 2009.

why not reduce america’s dependence on foreign supplied fuels through use of clean thorium nuclear energy in 2010?

“aim high” video presentation from dr. robert hargraves (dartmouth) on thorium power

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgkfs74hvvq

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thorium molten salt reactors – the silver bullet

sun, 10 jan 2010 14:00:00 +0000

they say there’s no such thing as a silver bullet when it comes to environment and energy. however, the liquid fluoride thorium reactor – lifter – comes pretty close.

peaking petroleum and a tight uranium equation have promped a surge in interest for new sources of energy. 9-11 has resulted in additional safeguards being placed on the nuclear business-as-ususal, meaning gallopping costs and hesitant investors. all of the northern hemisphere was exposed to the cold snap, a result of a quiet sun and a pacific decadal oscillation taking on a cold phase.

is there really such a nuclear system that 1) eats way the longlived waste, 2) has built-in-stability against runaway, 3) is cheap and massproducable and 4) is unattractive for military purposes ? well, fortunately yes.

the lifter is only a few years of relevant test runs away, building on the immense experience gathered at oak ridge national labs in the late 60s. it will provide affordable, depoyable, abundant, practical, easy and versatile power to industrialised and developing nations alike. the usamas of this world will not be tempted since the hurdles to illicit bombmaking are many and fundamental.