A bit technical but here's a response to the myths about thorium power. TL;DR benefits are often overstated and incorrect - it is no panacea
i may have posted from his what is nuclear page before and i appreciate his skepticism
however, here's all you need to know from his disclaimer
Disclaimer
Thorium is absolutely a viable and capable fuel, and some advanced nuclear reactors that use it are among the most exciting designs out there. This page does not debunk Thorium as a good energy system, it simply debunks a small fraction of the hype from a nuclear engineer's (who is tasked with designing and implementing these kinds of systems) perspective. Hype about Thorium and advanced nuclear in general is quite justified! To learn more about Thorium, we feature a page about Thorium as nuclear fuel, as well as a big page about the fluid fueled molten salt reactors (MSRs) that are good at using it.
Seaborg Technologies is ready for the next step on the journey towards a next generation of nuclear reactors.
A total of DKK 300 million will be spent. euro to reach the target.
For five years now, Seaborg Technologies has been working on a completely new type of liquid salt reactor. It can be a big win in the fight for climate, because the reactor is quick to scale and at the same time it produces 100 per cent. CO2 neutral energy. Here it is Trols Schönfeldt, co-founder and CEO of the company. Photo: Stine Bidstrup
Although nuclear power is not on the drawing board in Denmark, a small company in Nørrebro has one of the world's most promising nuclear power technologies in the mold.
Seaborg Technologies is well ahead in its efforts to develop a new type of liquid salt reactor that can be in a 20-foot container. It will significantly reduce the price of nuclear power while increasing security.The unique technology has attracted so much attention in Asia, in particular, that Seaborg has now landed a huge deal with a major South Korean energy company whose name is not yet public.
The agreement is a partnership where Seaborg and the South Koreans will build 7,500 of Seaborg's nuclear reactors in Southeast Asia until 2040.“It is a very big step on the road to the next generation of nuclear power. The South Koreans want to provide all the infrastructure to build the reactors, and then we just have to concentrate on developing the reactor itself, ”says Troels Schönfeldt, co-founder and CEO of Seaborg Technologies.
Seaborg has been in existence since the end of 2014 and has already collected a double-digit million from among other things. six different Danish founders of so-called unicorn companies - startups with a value of more than DKK 1 billion. dollars.
Following the big deal in South Korea, Trols Schönfeldt has now gone in search of the next capital injection of a three-digit million. “We hope to have the funding in place shortly. Probably only a month or two. This is money to be used to build a laboratory so that we can complete our reactor development, ”he says.
Seaborg expects to have their first reactor running in 2024, if all goes according to plan. But before it is ready, according to Troels Schönfeldt, 300 million have been spent. euro - equivalent to approx. 2.25 billion kr. "Half will go to development, and the second half will produce the first reactor, which is much more expensive than the next," he says.
Seaborg currently has 28 employees, but the goal is to create a new Danish export success - especially to Southeast Asia, where the climatic conditions mean that solar, wind and water energy do not have optimal conditions. One of Seaborg's reactors can supply energy to a city of 50,000 inhabitants, including all industries.
“The goal is to replace much of the coal power with nuclear power. Our technology will be able to supply Southeast Asia with energy one-third cheaper than coal power. But the most important thing is that nuclear power can save the climate, ”says Troels Schönfeldt.
Professor of nuclear power at DTU, Bent Lauritzen, calls the next generation of nuclear energy vital if we are to overcome the massive climate challenges on the planet.
“Unless we can produce cheap nuclear power in the form of small reactors on assembly lines, the amount of fossil energy sources will simply increase. We simply cannot solve the climate crisis in Asia and Africa without the technological breakthroughs in nuclear power, ”he says. Worldwide, nuclear power fills approx. 5% of the world's energy supply, while fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas occupy 80 per cent. That has not changed in 25 years.
That's a great chart. Impressive amount of biomass. Still, I'd rather trade more uranium (edit: or thorium but I remain sceptical) for less brown-coal baseload production. A possible future local disaster is preferable to an actual global disaster.
That's a great chart. Impressive amount of biomass. Still, I'd rather trade more uranium for less brown-coal baseload production. A possible future local disaster is preferable to an actual global disaster.
Indonesia has signed several nuclear deals * In early 2015, they signed a contract to build and test a pebble-bed HTGR at Serpong with a consortium of Russian and Indonesian companies led by NUKEM Technologies. * in August 2016, they signed a cooperation agreement with China Nuclear Engineering to develop small HTGRs in Kalimantan and Sulawesi by 2027. * they have signed agreements with Russia’s Rosatom to develop a floating nuclear power plant to power smaller inhabited islands. * in March 2017, three state-owned Indonesian power companies completed a 10-month-long preliminary feasibility study for a 250-MW molten salt reactor that would use a combination of 80% thorium and 20% uranium (the uranium would be enriched to 19.75% U-235, and the fuel would be delivered to the plant as fluoride salts). The reactor is from the ThorCon International nuclear startup. ThorCon is a company owned by Florida-based consulting firm Martingale Inc. The prefeasibility study stems from a memorandum of understanding the company signed with the Indonesian state firms in December 2015.
Indonesia has a lot of monazite and Thorium, which is recovered from the country’s substantial tin mining industry.
