Thorium Energy gets a Boost in the Magazine, American Scientist
Robert Hargraves (IThEO member and speaker at ThEC2010) and Ralph Moir, both highly regarded in their fields of physics and nuclear engineering, respectively, have published an impressive article in American Scientist (July/August 2010). Hargraves and Moir are two strong advocates of liquid-fuel thorium reactors (LFTR), and they are joined by an expanding circle of scientists around the world getting on the Thorium bandwagon. Their arguments for making thorium a part of our energy future is another powerful case for serious consideration.
In describing the long list of thorium's adavantages – from safety and waste reduction, to lower cost and proliferation resistance – Hargraves and Moir write, "Individually, the advantages are intriguing. Collectively they are compelling."
The article, titled "Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors, An old idea in nuclear power gets reexamined" is a great primer on the how and why's of thorium's benefits.
Robert Hargraves received a graduate degree in physics, Brown University, then spent his career in IT industry. He served as CIO at Boston Scientific, doing medical devices. More recently, he has been teaching a continuing education course at Dartmouth on Energy Policy and Environmental Choices, Rethinking Nuclear Power.
Ralph Moir has published many papers on molten-salt reactors during his fission and fusion career at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. He received his Sc.D. in nuclear engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
From Hargraves' website, Aim High!:
"The world suffers from environmental crises: global warming, pollution, and resource depletion, caused largely by excess CO2 emissions and by burgeoning population growth. The Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor (LFTR) can provode safe, nonpolluting energy to address these crises."..."We can develop LFTR in five years. Aim High!"
By Roger Weller and Andreas Norlin
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