The Coming Nuclear Renaissance

Our planet has a crisis. As the human population grows and gains wealth, environmental damage intensifies and only a few solutions exist to reduce this problem. All our proposed renewable energy sources, wind, solar, geothermal, tidal, biomass, and conservation are simply are not enough to make a significant reduction in our greenhouse emissions. Coal and natural gas remain the primary forms of power generation in the world due to their much lower cost and simplicity. However, there is also nuclear power, which is regarded the ace of clean power generation.

 

However our current methods of nuclear power generation have some unique problems, particularly fear, cost, spent radioactive fuel, proliferation, and Uranium availability. There has not been a single nuclear plant built in the U.S. since the Three Mile Island accident yet if we are to end global warming and secure a future of economic growth and prosperity, a fundamentally different approach to nuclear technology must be used. Fast spectrum breeder reactors can close the nuclear fuel cycle, and a resurrected technology called the Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor (LFTR) topples all arguments against conventional nuclear power.

 

Benefits of The Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor

Burns up existing highly radioactive waste from light water reactors.

Burns Uranium 235 or 233 fuel in the thermal spectrum allowing 98% burn-up.

Liquid salt allows Xenon poison to be removed continuously.

Breeds fertile Thorium into fissile Uranium 233 for insertion in the core in a closed cycle, onsite chemical separation process removes need for expensive isotope separation.

Liquid salt high melting point allows for much smaller containment structure, no steam to contain.

High temperature allows for use of combined cycle reheat Brayton turbine machinery improving efficiency to 50%, air cooling sufficient.

High temperature also permits elemental breakdown of water to produce hydrogen for production of ammonia nitrate fertilizer, dimethyl ether diesel fuel, and methanol gasoline fuel.

High negative temperature coefficient of reactivity, salt expands and contracts making reactor self regulating, no control rods needed.

Fuel already tested and certified from HRE-2 in late 1950's, 10 year certification process waived.

Potential 30-50% specific cost reduction compared to existing LWR facilities.

Proliferation resistant due to Uranium 232 contamination in Uranium 233 core, hard gamma emitter makes bomb use impossible.

Freeze plug feature, passively safe reactor design.

Scalable from 100MW semi trailer size to typical 1GW large plant size.

Abundance of Thorium is 400 times greater than fissile Uranium 235, 3 times greater than Uranium 238.

Specific high level actinide waste is 1/30 of conventional LWR and has 300 year decay time vs. 10,000 year.

Platinum, Americium, and Strontium 90 decay chain products are highly valuable and useful to medical industry.

Whats Next

Sign our "Save The Uranium-233" petition.

Educate people on nuclear technology and have congressional leadership fund closed cycle reactor technology, particularly Molten Salt and Integral Fast Reactors.

Success will be measured by the level of publicity, public understanding, and legislation put into law.

Involvement

If you are interested in promoting advanced nuclear technology, please consider joining the UC Nuclear Renaissance. We work under the American Nuclear Society as an advocacy group and pressure congressional leadership to expand advanced, efficient nuclear power since it is the only means available to stop global climate change.