A tonic for terra, Thorium

1. A tonic for terra, Thorium By: Evan Targioni, Monica Leising, Sarah Sanders, and Courtney Helman.

2. Get more from thorium!

3. What is our goal? • To develop a clean, sustainable, and efficient source of energy. • As you will come to see, thorium is the best solution to these three constraints.

4. What is thorium? • Radioactive metal • Symbol Th and atomic number 90 • Discovered in 1828 by Swedish chemist JönsJakobBerzelius • Is a fertile, but not fissile material • Named after the Norse god of thunder, Thor

5. Pure thorium

6. The primary source of thorium, monazite

7. Why thorium? • Uranium with its host of problems needs to be replaced • Thorium is more abundant in the Earth’s crust than uranium. • Thorium cannot sustain a chain reaction • Thorium reactors are cheaper than uranium reactors, because: • Thorium reactors are safer • Cheaper to maintain • Thorium itself is cheaper • Thorium is less radioactive than uranium • Thorium produces more energy per ton than uranium (200x by some accounts) • Thorium reactors can use uranium waste as a supplementary fuel. • Thorium reactors produce as much as 100x less waste than uranium reactors

8. Why don’t we have thorium reactors? • Early nuclear development • In the 50’s when practical nuclear energy was in its infancy its major use was in weaponry, not in power • Thorium cannot be weaponized, so it was passed in favor of uranium which can be weaponized • Present day • Events like Chernobyl, Fukushima, and Three Mile Island accident are still fresh in the public’s minds • Poor public opinion makes it difficult to build and develop new reactors, especially new designs • Businesses see this poor public opinion and avoid investing in nuclear energy

9. How does it work? • There are many different designs that support thorium as a fuel source, so we will focus on one: the liquid fluoride thorium reactor. • LFTRs use thorium mixed in a flouride based, molten, liquid salt as its fuel. • An LFTR is a type of molten salt reactor (MSR)

10. How does an LFTR work? • LFTRs are fairly simple they work by: • Dissolving thorium and uranium-233 into carrier salts, forming a liquid fuel • The liquid is then pumped between a critical core and a heat exchanger • This heat exchanger transfers the heat to a non radioactive secondary salt • This salt is then pumped to a steam turbine or closed-cycle gas turbine where it produces energy

11. An MSR (molten salt reactor)

12. Why don’t we use “x” instead? • Hydroelectric power has significant environmental repercussions as well as having a limited pool of viable sites • Fossil fuels, natural gas, bio-fuels, diesel all contribute to our huge carbon footprint • Geothermal cannot be practically employed on a global scale • Solar and wind are inefficient and cannot meet our energy needs without storing the energy they produce in batteries

13. Conclusion • Thorium is the best solution to our current energy concerns • It is being stifled by public opinion, which means that we need to change that public opinion so that this technology can be implemented. • Tell your friends, family, teachers, co-workers, etc. that nuclear energy is not bad, and with the help of thorium it could be the solution to all of humanity’s energy woes.