This is a re-post of an idea posted a few years ago on this site. You can see it got quite a few views (or 'reach' meaning people who read it on this site whether joined or not, and will be visible when this idea makes its way to 'All Ideas') . Does this idea, which was super popular a few years ago, still hold some promise in 2021? Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors -- "What Fusion Wanted to Be" Hello. I'd like to propose a type of nuclear reactor that was conceived of in the late 50's, with a working prototype constructed in the late 60's at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. So I don't bore you too much, here is a list of reasons why it should be considered above most if not all current energy sources: - Uranium needs to be processed as only 0.5% of it is usable U235 for normal reactors - Thorium is 4 times more common than ALL Uranium isotopes - Almost impossible to make nuclear weapons out of it - Burns existing nuclear waste stockpiles - Creates 1,000 to 10,000 times less nuclear waste - 87% of said waste is safe within 10 years for resale, 100% within 300 years - It is 300 times more efficient at power generation than light water uranium reactors (the dominant reactor today) - Since it uses a liquid fluoride salt system instead of water the size is incredibly small in comparison and in the event of a 'hull' breach it will not explode everywhere like the 400'C 80 atmospheric pressures of water in usual reactors - IT *CANNOT* MELTDOWN! It's already melted, If shit goes wrong the salt mix drains into a passively cooled tank, only stopped by a frozen salt plug which has air blowing over it - One ton of Thorium produces as much energy as 2,500,000 tonnes of coal and 250 tonnes of Uranium - It costs under $100,000 PER YEAR to replenish nuclear fuel in comparison to over $50,000,000 for uranium nuclear reactors - Because of the small size and no requirement of large bodies of water, this can be used on areas such as the moon where other power sources just aren't possible or are impractical (one month day on the moon, two weeks of darkness so no solar) - In a year the world burns nearly 7 billion tonnes of coal, 65,000 tonnes of uranium and a whole bunch of other smaller fuel sources. - ALL OF THE WORLDS POWER CAN BE PRODUCED FROM ONLY 6,600 TONNES OF THORIUM A YEAR, WHICH CAN BE MINED FROM ONE SITE Credit to Indurai