China and New Nuclear, Looks like we missed the boat again!

Today we take a look at China and nuclear power, specifically their steps towards utilizing thorium fueled, molten salt reactors (or MSRs). China has recently announced a plan to make MASSIVE steps forward in the realm of clean nuclear energy by building dozens of new reactors over the next 20 years, in an effort to wean the country off of coal and towards clean alternatives.

Nuclear? A clean alternative? What? Yes! It can be done, here's how. During the 1960's and 70's the US was obsessed with nuclear energy and figured out many different ways of producing energy from nuclear reactions. However, not all reactor types were created equal, most created hazardous waste and nuclear by-products suitable for weapons, a few others were able to produce energy without the nuclear waste or weapons potential. Obviously a country interested in stockpiling enough nuclear weapons to vaporize the planet twenty times over is not interested in the latter, and plans for such reactors were shelved.

It didn't take long for other countries to recognize the potential of a reactor that didn't create a environmental disaster and that is where these MSR reactors come in. A MSR reactor can be powered with a element called Thorium, which is a cheap, abundant, and SAFE reactant. Add thorium to a MSR and you have a reactor that can do a great many things, namely operate in a much safer and cleaner way than conventional reactors, like the ones found in the US. These reactors are also meltdown-proof, as thorium cores are liquid and not solid, to they can't go critical. Another interesting fact about MSR's is that they can also be powered with existing stocks of nuclear waste, potentially a solution to our nuclear waste storage problems!

So why are nations like China, India, France and Norway on board and not the US? We got a late start, but the President specifically mentioned Oak Ridge National Laboratory (the place where thorium MSR's were first conceived) in his State of the Union Address. So there is hope for us yet... But... If we are not careful and get on with our own R&D we could find ourselves importing this technology back from China, and thus becoming dependent on another foreign energy source after oil....

That is where I draw the line. Importing energy sources or technology from other countries is what put us in the energy choke hold we're in now! We need to start working towards our future and clean nuclear is another perfect technology for Americans to champion. But I'l remind you all again that there is no silver bullet, no singular technology or change in practice that is going to save our hides. Energy has to come from many places such as the renewables; solar, wind, and geothermal, and clean nuclear if we can do it. But we also need to make a paradigm shift in our way of life. Staples like transportation, agriculture, land use, and standards of living, all need to change before we can expect to see great strides forward. And we need to do it together, as Americans fighting to keep America strong in the years to come.

Read the article from Wired.com here.