Why are we not using thorium reactors if they are better in every way?
In: 9
Nuclear engineer here. They are not better in hardly any way. The amount of hype surrounding thorium astounds me.
We tried using thorium. The first core in Indian Point 1 nuclear plant had thorium in it. The second core had no thorium because it was cheaper to leave it out. We are not using thorium right now because there is no good reason to.
The things you’ve heard about how thorium is way more sustainable and can’t make bombs are misleading at best and all out wrong at worst.
I wrote up a whole page explaining all this in detail back in 2014 to try to nip the thorium thing in the bud. https://whatisnuclear.com/thorium-myths.html
Latest Answers