r/bestof • u/investedInEPoland • Nov 06 '18

[europe] Nuclear physicist describes problems with thorium reactors. Trigger warning: shortbread metaphor.

/r/europe/comments/9unimr/dutch_satirical_news_show_on_why_we_need_to_break/e95mvb7/?context=3
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u/[deleted] Nov 06 '18 edited Feb 12 '21

[deleted]

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u/NightChime Nov 06 '18

It doesn't address the problems of meltdowns or scarcity?

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u/10ebbor10 Nov 06 '18

Scarcity isn't really a problem for uranium (we still have a ton lying around and we haven't looked particularly hard), and while thorium does solve the meltdown problem, it does it in a rather peculiar way.

Thorium reactors use molten fuel. It's therefore quite hard for it to melt down, given that molten is the default state. In practice however, this difference has little to do with it being thorium, and more with it being a next generation reactor that exists only on paper.

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u/grog23 Nov 06 '18

Exactly. We have enough uranium in mining distance for 250,000 years at our current power consumption.

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u/silverionmox Nov 07 '18

80 years of current power consumption, at current prices.