Atomic Car Revisited: Thorium Could Power A Vehicle for 100 Years?

[Commodore]

Came across this article and it seemed pretty interesting to me. Of course I don't really know much about this kind of stuff, so perhaps someone here with a little more knowledge can say if this is legit or not.

Article

The report claims that small amount of the dense thorium could produce tremendous amounts of heat. A company called Laser Power Systems is attempting to employ this power source in a vehicle. The company claims that: “1 gram [of thorium] yields more energy than 7,396 gallons of gas.” By their math, 8 grams of the substance could power a thorium turbine car for a century.

So what do you guys think? Is this the fuel of the future? Or is this just a bunch of fuss over nothing?

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Even if it could be made a practical engineering reality, the public would never accept it because: 'ZOOOOOOOOOMG Radiation!'.

 

[Borachio]

Yes. Liquid fluoride thorium could be used for a small reactor. I would expect it to be used in industry (as a standalone power supply for a blast furnace for example), and even cargo ships, long before motor cars.

 

[Commodore]

Even if it could be made a practical engineering reality, the public would never accept it because: 'ZOOOOOOOOOMG Radiation!'.

Agreed. People would freak out even if adequate shielding from the radiation was provided. The first time someone is diagnosed with cancer after this came out (whether it is as a result of the reactor in their car or not), they would probably try to sue the car manufacturer.

Yes. Liquid fluoride thorium could be used for a small reactor. I would expect it to be used in industry (as a standalone power supply for a blast furnace for example), and even cargo ships, long before motor cars.

I just thought of something else: What does the world supply of thorium look like? I mean, is there enough of it on Earth to actually replace fossil fuels completely if we decided to go down this road?

 

[Borachio]

It's about 1.2 million tonnes that are known about. Is that enough? Probably not.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorium#Reserve_estimates

There's around 120 trillion tonnes of thorium thought to exist in the Earth's crust. But that figure is meaningless.

 

[Samez]

Also there are about 6 million car accidents per year in the US. It might not be the best idea to put a radioactive engine into each of these cars...

 

[Commodore]

Also there are about 6 million car accidents per year in the US. It might not be the best idea to put a radioactive engine into each of these cars...

I believe the article addresses that point.

According to this video from The Young Turks (which is informative, if a little low-rent at times), if put to use properly, would be low pressure and have lower chances of danger to the environment and humans than a uranium-based reactor.

While not directly addressing car accidents, it is implied that by saying it is safer for the environment and humans than uranium that an accident wouldn't turn into an environmental disaster.

 

[Takhisis]

Well, we'd better register a Highwayman Motors company to start with…

 

[warpus]

Even if it could be made a practical engineering reality, the public would never accept it because: 'ZOOOOOOOOOMG Radiation!'.

The anti-GMO/vaccine crowd would go crazy