Comments on: Energy Shifts http://fopnews.wordpress.com/2011/11/04/energy-shifts/ FOP: where the human and geologic converge. Tue, 14 May 2013 00:35:36 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: zhando http://fopnews.wordpress.com/2011/11/04/energy-shifts/#comment-620 Thu, 17 Nov 2011 01:14:26 +0000 http://fopnews.wordpress.com/?p=2434#comment-620 As Japan mulls a short-sighted decision to abandon nuclear power, China embraces it ever more fiercely. China will be researching and developing molten salt reactors based on Thorium, an abundant nuclear fertile element, up to 4 times more abundant than uranium.

Energy from molten salt thorium-based reactors uses all its nuclear fuel compared to 0.5 to 0.7 percent used in today’s uranium based pressurized reactors. They operate at atmospheric pressure and in concept are walk-away safe. The waste they produce only has to be isolated for several centuries versus 10 or more for conventional approaches. And the volume of waste to handle is much, much smaller.

The west instead of innovating past the shortcomings of today’s approaches to nuclear power are fleeing in fear from what they don’t seem to want to understand..

It’s a shame.

]]> By: John http://fopnews.wordpress.com/2011/11/04/energy-shifts/#comment-604 Fri, 04 Nov 2011 22:09:19 +0000 http://fopnews.wordpress.com/?p=2434#comment-604 How much energy powers the glitz and glamour @ times square? What other sources of non-essential power could be unplugged from the 24-7 NYC advertising model? How many wall street offices keep lights on into the deep night at the expense of our future? And how many apartment or school buildings run heat in the winter with windows open? We can do without Indian point and there are myriad opportunities to start demonstrating how…the question remains, as you astutely point out, must crisis come first?

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