03-24-2011, 03:31 PM
[quote name='Arun_S' date='22 March 2011 - 09:19 PM' timestamp='1300849905' post='111227']
Thorium based reactors by definition are immune to core meltdown.
However its spent fuel rods is no less hot than other types of fissile material for initial few weeks and months.
Unlike other fuel cycle, however Thorium fuel spent rods have actinides with much longer half cycle for strong Gamma ray radiation, that requires remote robotic handling for re-processing. However some new physical processes have been invented (ultrasonics) that reduce the half life of those actinides by many orders (i.e. 100 to 1000 times). That invention makes Thorium a very good low mining foot print source of clean energy, that is also proliferation resistant (to lay Abduls as well as any country other than top 10 nations which are already in NSG and India (but not Saudi Arabia, Libya, Iran or Pakistan). Not to mention many time larger total available energy from Thorium from global reserves.
[/quote]
Arunji,
Another option would be use of AVLIS (atomic vapour laser isotope separation) to separate U232 from U233. It is known that the U.S in late 80's had developed AVLIS plants to turn RGPu from LWRs into WGPu (though the program was closed in the early 1990's after the cold war ended). Needless to say, AVLIS if well developed, could be useful to clean our own RGPu stocks....Hope DAE has advanced in this direction...
Thorium based reactors by definition are immune to core meltdown.
However its spent fuel rods is no less hot than other types of fissile material for initial few weeks and months.
Unlike other fuel cycle, however Thorium fuel spent rods have actinides with much longer half cycle for strong Gamma ray radiation, that requires remote robotic handling for re-processing. However some new physical processes have been invented (ultrasonics) that reduce the half life of those actinides by many orders (i.e. 100 to 1000 times). That invention makes Thorium a very good low mining foot print source of clean energy, that is also proliferation resistant (to lay Abduls as well as any country other than top 10 nations which are already in NSG and India (but not Saudi Arabia, Libya, Iran or Pakistan). Not to mention many time larger total available energy from Thorium from global reserves.
[/quote]
Arunji,
Another option would be use of AVLIS (atomic vapour laser isotope separation) to separate U232 from U233. It is known that the U.S in late 80's had developed AVLIS plants to turn RGPu from LWRs into WGPu (though the program was closed in the early 1990's after the cold war ended). Needless to say, AVLIS if well developed, could be useful to clean our own RGPu stocks....Hope DAE has advanced in this direction...