Thorium part one

As the world slowly comes to the realization that wind and solar are not the answer to climate change, all eyes turn toward nuclear, which then begs the question, should the power source be uranium or thorium. Uranium, like most heavy metals has several isotopes but U 235 is the only one that is fissionable. Naturally occurring uranium contains only .7% U 235 so it must be enriched to 3 to 5% before it can be used power plants. To make an efficient bomb requires 90% enrichment. It is faster and easier to go from 5% to 90% than to go from 1% to 5%. Problems arise from the remaining uranium which is bombarded by neutrons during the reaction and changed into undesirable elements which take many years to dissipate. Thorium has only one stable isotope so it needs no enriching. In addition far fewer unwanted materials are produced and at much lower quantities. In addition thorium reactors are able to use up much of the stored waste from uranium reactors. Research on nuclear was conducted at Oakridge Lab at the start using uranium but later scientist discovered that thorium was a better choice. However they were blocked by the US government because thorium reactors could not produce fuel for bombs and that was the main purpose for the project. Thus thorium was put on the back burner only to come alive again in recent years. Thorium has many advantages over uranium. First off it is four times more abundant and found in most places around the world. Second it does not have to be enriched which is both expensive and time consuming. Third it produces far fewer unwanted by products and the ones produced dissipate more rapidly. Forth thorium reactors can use stored waste from uranium reactors as fuel. While uranium reactors have an excellent safety record thorium reactors are much safer. Thorium reactors cannot melt down because new fuel must be constantly added to keep the plant operating and thus if the operator goes home the plant will shut down on what is called walk away safety. Even if the operator wanted to sabotage the reactor by adding too much fuel the reaction would stop when the temperature got above a certain level. As things heat up the atoms spread further apart and the chain reaction stops until things cool down. In addition thorium molten salt reactors operate at normal pressure and do not use water for cooling so there is no danger from a steam explosion. These reactors use a gas like helium or carbon dioxide in the heat ex changers to turn the generators to make the electricity. One final point is that thorium reactors operate at 1,300 degrees F while water cooled uranium reactors run at 600 degrees F. This increases efficiency as the laws of thermodynamics state that heat ex changing is most efficient at higher temperatures.