Pro's of new Molten Salt reactor being constructed - discussed by one of Richard's favorite You tuber

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Dennis P Brown
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Pro's of new Molten Salt reactor being constructed - discussed by one of Richard's favorite You tuber

Post by Dennis P Brown »

Here is a link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6BGLgJY0Wg

Interesting that this is being built apparently in the US to burn nuclear waste.

Here is an interview with the creator of this 'reactor' design:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZn4rGF9B-Y

And more detail with this youtube vid via the company rep:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mz49CB8XGQo
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Richard Hull
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Re: Pro's of new Molten Salt reactor being constructed - discussed by one of Richard's favorite You tuber

Post by Richard Hull »

The nice indian lady has a number of videos on nuclear material and power. I have yet to catch her in overblown hype or submitting wrong information. As noted in a previous post on her doing a fusion review, she put out all of the info on why fusion is not a hopeful power source for the foreseeable future.

I have always loved the idea of thorium salt breeders, which we now have the materials and technology to work with.

India, Sri Lanka and Brazil are the worlds most massive sources of thorium, via their black monazite sands which can contain up to 50% thorium. Thorium minerals (rock) are fairly rare and when found are more like Uranium in that the percent content is low. Vastly lower than monazite sands. India is not ignoring they are sitting of a world supply of Thorium breeder fuel. Their caste system has kept the bulk of their country in a lesser community while the highest cast produces a constant flow of genius level scientists and mathematicians. Hopefully, as they become a modern society, this will change. It remains their business, however, and not ours.

Richmond is at the coalescence or merging of two joined pegmatite dike mineral pipe zones. ( I have noted this in a past post on a geological survey map) There are three of these large pipes on the east coast running from Georgia to Maine. All three run through Virginia but two of the most easterly zones join into one about 20 miles from my home. As such, large amounts of Thorium rich pegmatite minerals are found in the nearby counties of Powhattan and Amelia. It is known by local mineralogists and geologists that in spite of all this thorium, it is not of economic significance to mine. Just don't build a home on top of it as the stuff is right near the surface. maps are found in this old and interesting post on page #2.

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=12955

I have also noted the high Thoron Gas content of a children's playground/park situated in a bowl shaped depression in my own county of Henrico. This park is two miles from my home. Bill Kolb has run an analysis of the creek sand that runs through this bowl shaped park. (we scouted it out after I discovered it and took samples) While Thoron has a 55 second half life and is one of the most dangerous Radons due to this fact, this natural bowl or depression keeps the ever freshly regenerated Thoron within the small children's recreation area, long enough to decay to daughters within the bowl. This saves the neighborhood from the park's gas. However this general area has the highest radon concentration in home crawl spaces in the entire Richmond area. This continues through the property of the University of Richmond and across the James river into Powhattan county and Amelia county. Apparently, part of the eastern most pegmatite pipe just nicks the western most part of Richmond.

The thorium I have in my mineral collection is in the form of monazite sand I panned out of a stream near the Ligon mine in Amelia County.

I am and have always loved fission power, because it is here and it works! However, as the uranium ore for commerce gets ever lower in content and more minable at lower percentages, fission needs working Thorium breeders. Thorium exists as an easy to get, high content geologic source of energy an has been known to be so since the 1950's. We got tangled up in our own underwear with fusion as a replacement for Uranium fission power. Early Uranium power also fed the need for bomb grade plutonium throughout the cold war. We got tired of the bomb and learned to burn MOX fuel from decommissioned nuclear weapons. Most of this MOX is now gone. With coal on the outs, that may leave only nuclear and gas to back up the green dream of sputtering, unreliable renewables. Due to renewables consumption of resources and the supposed coming of gigawatt level, multiacre battery farms we will have to rape the earth for the many minerals and supplies needed for full green power, as seen in Planet of the Humans. Let's get fission power from Thorium as we phase out our aging U fission plants. We can and should forget fusion and remember it fondly as the energy of the future.

Richard Hull
Progress may have been a good thing once, but it just went on too long. - Yogi Berra
Fusion is the energy of the future....and it always will be
The more complex the idea put forward by the poor amateur, the more likely it will never see embodiment
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Dennis P Brown
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Re: Pro's of new Molten Salt reactor being constructed - discussed by one of Richard's favorite You tuber

Post by Dennis P Brown »

Faccinating disscusion by you on the local Richmond geology relative to thorium minerals and radon issues. I remember reading that a very economical uranium desposit exists in central Virginia, too (maybe related to that vein?) I understand that the State refuses any company from mining it.

The interesting aspect of this person's reactor is it can and will burn current super radioactive nuclear waste from nuke plant's storage ponds. Those 'waste' fuel rods could, using his reactor, supply all US electrical needs (current) for over 300 years! No new uranium needed! Work on thorium molten salt reactors by Oak Ridge have really paid us taxpayers off big time if this pan's out. Not only does this solve the issue of storing these hideously radioactive 'spent' fuel rods but this person's reactor could supply 100% of the current electrical requirements while doing that! All carbon free, too! Better still, the cost of these reactor plants will be well below the cost of regular fission plants - no fuel costs, no massive containment building, no backup safety systems required and very few employee's needed to run/oversee it.

This looks to be a game changer for nuclear power - it appears to achieve what fusion was promised to do but never did.
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Jim Kovalchick
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Re: Pro's of new Molten Salt reactor being constructed - discussed by one of Richard's favorite You tuber

Post by Jim Kovalchick »

I was good until she said that the reactor makes steam as an offering to the turbine fairy.
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Richard Hull
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Re: Pro's of new Molten Salt reactor being constructed - discussed by one of Richard's favorite You tuber

Post by Richard Hull »

That uranium vein is way west of the pegmatites and is quite separate and is down over 1000 feet below a main aquafer. It is one of the largest untapped U reserves in the U.S. It is called the coles hill deposit in Pittsylvania County near Chatam VA. Bill Kolb, myself and Carl Willis were allowed on the private land to work the very small pipe of scaprolite loaded uranium which actually hits the surface. It is only about 100 feet wide. The good U stuff is real deep and in massive amounts. Alas, the material near the surface was not all that hot compared to the blisteringly hot Utah stuff we found. Being at the surface, it was quite weathered. The state has indeed put the deposit off-limits and will not allow it to be mined. As noted this is a totally separate, massive and deep uranium entity and bears no relationship to the thorium pegmatites

Coles hill trip below for those interested in Rad mineral hunts. It was one cold day to hunt for U stuff in far south western VA.

Richard Hull
Attachments
Bill Kolb with a chunk o' ore
Bill Kolb with a chunk o' ore
L to R  Richard Hull...one of carl's friends....Carl Willis
L to R Richard Hull...one of carl's friends....Carl Willis
Virginia Uranium in the trunk of our car.
Virginia Uranium in the trunk of our car.
Diggin' in th' snow
Diggin' in th' snow
Scintillator on th' rocks
Scintillator on th' rocks
lots of cores
lots of cores
looking at the hundreds of core samples from cole's hill
looking at the hundreds of core samples from cole's hill
Progress may have been a good thing once, but it just went on too long. - Yogi Berra
Fusion is the energy of the future....and it always will be
The more complex the idea put forward by the poor amateur, the more likely it will never see embodiment
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