Thorium part two

The space needed for wind farms and solar fields is very large and most times far from the point of use meaning long transmission line. A one gigawatt nuclear power plant takes up 500 acres of land while the same power for solar panels requires 100,000 acres and for wind 12 million acres. Thorium molten salt reactors would use only 100 acres. One hundred megawatt thorium reactors can be manufactured on an assembly line basis and shipped to the use point by semi truck. Ten of these will equal a one gigawatt uranium plant. The same company will manufacture the reactors and generators and install them at the use point. This company will then operate the units and sell the power to the end user. This could be a city or a large manufacturing facility. This eliminates the need for transmission lines and since the reactor needs no water it can operate any where. It could be set up in the desert near the ocean to desalt sea water and grow crops in arid areas. It could be set up near any water supply to break down water in to oxygen and hydrogen to make hydrogen fuel for transportation. Hydrogen could also be used to combine with CO2 extracted from the air to make synthetic diesel and jet fuel. Thorium reactors can be a source of important medical chemicals like Acitnium 225 and Lead 212 and Bismuth 213 used in cancer treatment. Unlike uranium plants, thorium plants do not have to shut down for refueling every two years since fuel is continuously added. For many the fact that thorium plants do not produce bomb material is a plus. It would take 40,000 one hundred megawatt thorium reactors to produce the electricity needed by the US today and 10,000 more over the next 20 years.

Russia

The world needs to pay more attention to Russia. The demographics in Russia are much like many other countries in that their population has declined to the point that it cannot replace itself. Many of these same countries including Russia are not interested in immigrants as the local people see them as unwanted foreigners. The long term result is that by the end of this century Russia will no longer be a country unless they decide to bring in immigrants. The population of Russia today is 145 million the same as it was 40 years ago. In contrast during the same time period the US population has grown from 240 million to 340 million. The Russians see the loss of the buffer zone represented by Ukraine as a threat to their existence or in today's jargon an existential threat. If the war turns against them they will react like a cornered animal and as a last recourse bring on the nukes. The West, up to this point, has avoided this possible end by just prolonging the fight. This may go on for many years but at some point if the West keeps adding more and more hi tech weaponry, Russia will lose and then what. The original reason for the war from the standpoint of the West was the fear that Russia will try to recreate the old Soviet Union but the world now sees that Russia's military is no match for the West and the time has come to reach a peaceful settlement. This could save millions of lives and trillions of dollars and have just as good a chance of avoiding nuclear war as dragging out the war.

Trump

People who try to understand Trump too often make the mistake of putting him in the category of politician. He is in fact first and foremost a salesman. He knew from the start that he could not succeed in politics by being a politician so he blazed a new trail. Like sales people he believed that all publicity, good or bad, is good. He said outlandish things and dominated the news almost every day. Next he came along at a time when social media allowed him to by pass the main stream press and so he could vilify them without fear of being shut out. Next he understood that the average person did not think much of the press or politicians and so he went after the press and people liked it. He is the opposite of political correctness at a time when people are fed up with political correctness. He wants to drain the swamp when people are sick and tired of bureaucrats that they see as unelected busy bodies who want to tell other people how they should live. The distrust of government which had been brewing for years came to a head with the 2008 mortgage crisis where people witnessed millions of working people like themselves lose their homes while the bureaucrats bailed out the big banks. He knew the people were upset and he became their voice. At every rally Trump would point to the press and make some derogatory remark and then proceed to blast the Washington establishment as a bunch of elitist who had forgotten about the working people. People instinctively knew what these elitist did not know, that globalization was costing them their good jobs. The final nail in the coffin came when the press started calling Trump supporters cultist. Trump turned the American political system up side down and today the working stiffs are Trumpers.

Russia

The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990 presented the West with an opportunity to bring Russia into the developed world as a legitimate trading partner. Russian natural resources were badly needed by Europe and East Asia. It would have been something along the lines of the Marshall Plan. By offering trade deals along with low interest loans the US along with the European Union could have helped Russia get back on its feet. Today Russia would be aligned with the West, Europe would not be in an energy crisis and the new partnership between Russia and China would not be. The old cold war beliefs prevailed and neo cons tried to destroy the Russian economy. The sad part is if they succeed will someone worse than Putin take control or worse will the country become a fight between war lords who have nuclear weapons at their disposal. The only way to make up for these past mistakes is to negotiate a peace treaty and end the war.

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.

Nuclear

Things are happening but not in the news President Trump asked his Energy Secretary, Dan Brouillette, to assemble a nuclear energy working group to find ways to expand the U.S. nuclear energy industry in an effort to compete globally. The U.S. Department of Energy, which is leading the national initiative, is on an aggressive timeline—five to seven years—to bring new advanced nuclear reactors for electric power to the international market. President Joe Biden signed legislation Tuesday that aims to deploy advanced nuclear reactors more quickly. The ADVANCE Act, aims to further streamline permitting for new reactor designs, give the Nuclear Regulatory Commission more resources, and promote deployment across the globe.

Russia

In the 2016 presidential election Russia was accused of trying to influence the results by using social media. The government, in a attempt to minimize this, asked social media to limit these ads. This week the Justice Department announced that Russia once again was using social media in a attempt to influence voters. The for mentioned misinformation was record inflation, high food prices, special treatment for minorities, high crime rates in cities and in minority areas. The question now is will the government ask social media not to publish such information and second will they agree to the request.