Those Looking for Geoscience input

[Stewy]

(08-08-2024, 01:43 PM)Synric Wrote: My question is less Oil & Gas and more Nuclear. Does the US have any plans for Thorium based nuclear power?

Well you got me on this one - I had to google it.  lol  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorium-based_nuclear_power - while I don't blame anyone for not trusting wiki, I checked out multiple sites and they all had several of the same advantages and disadvantages, thus it is in the ballpark.  

To Summarize:
Key Positives:
---Generates more power per volume
---Less waste per volume
---Less viable byproducts for nuclear bombs

Key Negatives:
---Vastly more expensive to extract from the Earth vs. Uranium
---Significantly more dangerous short term radiation risks; Thorium gives off Gamma Rays which Ur/Plutonium do not.

Basically from what I was reading, it all comes down to economics.