Save the Uranium-233, Explore Space, Save Lives
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- Опубліковано 23 січ 2011
- Google Tech Talk
January 13, 2011
Presented by Kirk Sorensen.
ABSTRACT
Uranium-233 does not exist naturally, but about a ton of the stuff was transmuted from Thorium-232 at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the 1960's. Some people would have us blend this exceedingly rare element with natural uranium for disposal. However, Uranium-233 can be used in an advanced nuclear reactor with interesting properties. Uranium-233 is the cleanest burning fissile material. Employed as an initial fuel load for a Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor, this small supply of Uranium-233 can be the match to ignite a process that produces a huge supply of electricity along with small quantities of useful fission products. In particular, the LFTR produces small amounts of Plutonium-238, essential for NASA's deep space missions; Technetium-99m, exceedingly valuable for medical imaging; and other specialized isotopes used in cancer treatments. Nuclear power reactors can be engineered to produce many valuable materials through transmutation belying the term "nuclear waste".
Kirk Sorensen is chief nuclear technologist at Teledyne Brown Engineering in Huntsville, Alabama. He has been researching the nuclear fuel cycle for many years in connection with a strong interest in thorium as a planetary energy source. He is also a PhD student in nuclear engineering at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville under Dr. Laurence Miller. He runs a blog called "energyfromthorium.com" and is active in the Thorium Energy Alliance (TEA) and the International Thorium Energy Organization (IThEO) and is also a member of the American Nuclear Society (ANS). - Наука та технологія
Also, U-233 would be generated in this process, and could be siphoned off to use in U-233 only plants. The LFTRs could dramatically increase U-233 stockpiles, and also dramatically increase plutonium 238 stockpiles for space exploration, and also dramatically increase the stockpiles all of those other crucial, rare, and very expensive things like Bi-213. The LFTR reactor design is extremely lucrative when you look at the resources it can put out.
Thank you Kirk Sorenson! You are the Thomas Edison of our era.
"Kirk Sorensen". Two Star Trek characters in one name (Captain Kirk & Dr. Sorenson). #WIN
Great topic! i am always impressed by google tech talks.
Kirk Sorensen is the greatest
"what we need is a better way"
signed
Fukishima
KIRK SORENSON, YOU ARE A WIZARD.
Very interesting!
@apex02001
yes, this could be a new line of power-generating nuclear reactors. Thorium would be the nuclear fuel they use, and thats way more abundant than uranium. If not hunting for special isotopes, just for energy generation, you could add low-enriched uranium, uranium 238 to the fuel. Thats very abundant, every kind of enrichment of uranium leads to low-ewnriched uranium as a byproduct (waste product).
@apex02001
watch the beginning of the talk again. its of no use for a bomb, because it doesnt emit neutrons when it fissions.
I thought it was very enlightening. How else would you explain the process?
@oisiaa It is
Demand will create supply. If NASA is willing to pay for this stuff, surely there is a company out there willing to make it, for the right price.
Same thing was said about the magical cheap lights that were brought about by "electricity"... thankfully, light scarcity only /temporarily/ held up to the massive new demands for it. We can make other things scarce, like materials and (no, seriously) currency... but making energy itself scarce through materials control just hurts the future of humanity on so many levels that I almost want to vomit thinking about it.
With Avasva plans doing something like that was easy.
storage of anti-matter is almost impossible, also we lack the ability to create and collect it in meaningful quantities. So far, a handful of anti-hydrogen atoms was stored for close to 10 minutes. For a weapon, you would need to store about 600000000000000000000000 (23 zeros to get from the weight of 1 hydrogen atom to 1 gram) of these indefinitely. just too difficult.
@3RiversRogue you clearly didn't watch the whole thing.
Sounds like lots of upsides. What are the downsides? The molten salt reactor hasn't been built yet? Political obstacles? Some radioactive waste? Anything else?
The price system is dependent on scarcity and debt, hence the planned destruction of anything good.
they've blown more money on mergers that amounted to nothing.
thats not a mon its a Space station lol
Considering all the other ridiculous things that the US government spends a billion dollars on yearly, you'd think that they might see China running away with the LFTR design and go "wait, CHINA wants the intellectual property rights on this? must be something really lucrative- maybe we should pipe in some cash..."
But no, instead the US gov't researches new reactors that rapidly breed nice, clean, weapons grade plutonium. *facedesk*
sorry wrong vote
If I like
Ah well,.., Obama is just another empty suit!