[ExI] cure for global warming.

[Alfio Puglisi]

2010/12/27 John Clark <jonkc at bellsouth.net>

> On Dec 27, 2010, at 1:56 PM, Eugen Leitl wrote:
>
>
> Any preparative neutron source can be used to breed plutonium. Thorium
> molten-salt is definitely
> not proliferation-resistent.
>
>
> To hell with molten-salt, I'm talking about Liquid Fluoride Thorium
> Reactors (LFTR)
>

The wikipedia article on LFTR/molten salt reactors, after listing their
advantages, contains some interesting statements:

"There is no need for fuel fabrication. This reduces the MSR's fuel
expenses. It poses a business challenge, because reactor manufacturers
customarily get their long-term profits from fuel fabrication. Since it uses
raw fuel, basically just a mixture of chemicals, current reactor vendors do
not want to develop it"

"To exploit the molten salt reactor's breeding potential to the fullest, the
reactor must be co-located with a reprocessing facility. Nuclear
reprocessing does not occur in the U.S. because no commercial provider is
willing to undertake it. The regulatory risk and associated costs are very
great because the regulatory regime has varied dramatically in different
administrations. "

It appears that The Market (TM), as currently set up, will not facilitate
additional research and development. Wikipedia is authoritative, of course
:-)

Alfio

>
>
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