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http://pesn.com/2009/06/04/9501548_Thorium_Energy_Independence_and_Security_Act_of_2009/
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Opinion
Thorium Energy Independence and Security Act of 2009
Thorium reactors provide a much
more clean and safe alternative to uranium-based nuclear reactors, and could be
retrofitted in to existing nuclear plants.
by Daniel
Bowers
for Pure Energy Systems News
Popular Science recently ran a discussion piece on clean coal and how clean can it be. The answer is
very clean but is this still the answer?
Yesterday I was researching Solid Oxide Fuel Cells for commercial / industrial scale power generation. There are several entities in the running for the next generation of solid oxide fuel cells which would run on Coal via gasification. The Solid State Energy Conversion Alliance was established under the DOE to work with technology developers to come up with a viable megawatt scale solid state coal energy conversion platform via coal gasification and solid oxide fuel cells. The first megawatt system is set to be up and running by 2012 followed by a 100-500 MW plant by 2020.
How much time and money are we going to throw at using up our resources? Yes, the potential exists to capture CO2 and use it to grow algae and then produce biofuels, chemicals, etc. but is this really the answer? If we were to do this it could represent energy security and effect mans production of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions but we are still thinking inside the box.
For those individuals who understand the global energy situation the answer is quite clear and it involves advanced technology, chemistry, money, and political support. The comments in the clean coal comic truly express a viable technological solution which will lead to the realization of a long term solution going beyond the hundreds of years which coal and other fossil fuels would provide.
A 1000 MW nuclear reactor could produce 18,000 barrels of fuel a day with technology which currently exists. There have been several different Thorium reactors in operation within the past 40 years. So what happened? The era when these reactors were brought online was during the cold war.
Uranium-fueled nuclear power plants are the suppliers of weapons grade plutonium which we use within our nuclear
arsenal [hence their being favored]. The Yucca Mountain project is simply a nuclear weapons storage silo in disguise. The question I ask, which is more important, being whether we will destroy our planet or save it from our destruction?
There will always be a need for man to have the capability of defending itself but at what expense?
The thorium nuclear fission cycle eliminates the risk of meltdown and weapons proliferation while the byproducts have a reduced half-life on the order of 1/2 century rather than thousands of years. Thorium can be recycled and poses no direct risks to our environment unless the facilities themselves were attacked. Even in this situation we would not have another Chernoble. People fear nuclear energy because of the Three Mile Island incident and what they see on the History Channel. Thorium nuclear reactors have demonstrated their viability in the past so what is the problem?
Some may think it is the aristocracy which uses Black Operations or the rich trying to keep their money and power. If this is the case then why would Bill Gates and other notorious billionaires be investing millions of dollars in alternatives. Intellectual Ventures, LLC which is backed by the richest man in the world has a team of 30 scientists and engineers working on concepts for better thorium nuclear reactors.
(Ref.)
If the rich are the so called corrupt then why would a man like Bill Gates be investing his time, money, and resources toward finding a cheap clean energy alternative for third world nations? Google guys, Sir. Richard Branson, to name a few. The worlds richest highest profile individuals even the Pope/ the Vatican are going green. Vatican City is in the process of building Europes largest Photovoltaic power plant which will make Vatican City the first completely green city state in the world.
[EDITOR'S NOTE: I don't know of anyone who has ever said all the rich are corrupt, nor that all the corrupt are completely
corrupt. Gratefully, there are many exceptions.]
Society is so used to making fear based decisions and blaming others for their downfall. We are the ones that get in the cars every day which are powered by fossil fuels. When we turn that key to start up the engine we are the ones promoting the problem not the rich elite. Wal-mart doesn't make money if consumers don't buy goods. Yes, the rich may control the money but there is power in numbers, the power to vote and the power to make conscious decisions about what we buy dictates the demand. It is the consumer, you and I, not the rich elite. ...
In October of 2008 under the Bush administration the house threw out a bill called the Thorium Energy Independence and Security Act of 2008. There is a new
draft on the table called the Thorium Energy Independence and Security Act of 2009. This single document could be the single most important piece of legislation in the history of the United States and the world. We need this document to come to life and work with other nations on this global Manhattan project. Forget about the pipe dreams of fusion fifty years from now. We can retrofit all of our nuclear power plants and have 50 new ones up by 2020. This is a far better path to pursue than the current Solid State Energy Alliance's single demonstration plant.
What is needed is for the citizens to write to their Senators, Congressmen, local, federal, and state government officials. Write an email to the Department of
Energy and President Obama.
Here's a video on "What Fusion Wanted to Be", Google Tech Talks on the
Liquid Flouride Thorium Reactor.
Combine that with the Magnetoplasmadynamic
Thruster, as well as the Ring
Power Multiplier and we've got lift off. We can refuel on the moon!
# # #
Forum
Draft Status; More Resources
On June 5, 2009, Robert Hargraves wrote:
I'm pleased you like the
draft
language I wrote in the Thorium Energy Independence and Security Act of 2009. On my trip to Washington DC I did leave off copies at the offices of Senators Reid and Hatch, but have had no response.
There is more information on the liquid thorium reactor at http://rethinkingnuclearpower.googlepages.com/aimhigh
Also, last week's Google Tech Talk on the subject is posted at
[YouTube].
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