Thorium

There are 96 nuclear reactors in the US and they produce 19% of the power so in order to produce all the power we would need 505 reactors. On average each reactor produces one gigawatt or 1,000 megawatts. The typical small thorium reactor (sized to fit on a semi truck) produces 300 megawatts so it would take 1,530 thorium reactors. The estimated cost is $780 million dollars each so the total cost to supply the United States with power from thorium reactors would be $1.2 trillion dollars which is less than half the cost of the Afghan War. These units can be installed near the point of use and eliminate the need for long transmission lines. That would be the end of CO2 and solve the climate change problem. These reactors also use up the stored nuclear waste. They also produce excess heat which could be used to make hydrogen which could fuel transportation. There would also be enough heat to desalt sea water and start growing food in the deserts. These plants operate at normal atmospheric pressure and use no water. A water line could run from the Pacific Ocean to Central California and the whole valley would have a source of fresh water. This is only one area and there are many more dry places where sea water could solve the problem. Thorium could feed the world. The world is heading in this direction and China is leading the way.