Science!! Fucking magnets, how do they work?
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American firm working with China on Thorium nuclear reactor.Breakout: Inside China's military buildup
Sentagur
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This would be a perfect time for another "Space Race" but this time it will be with China and pursuing cheap almost unlimited energy.
the question is will American politicians pull their collective heads out of their arse and work together to make their country again a tech leader or have you guy been on the top too long to make your elected figures too comfortable, shortsighted and willing to sacrifice greater good to achieve minor personal advantages.
Looking at the past few years it seems that the good nationalism, willingness to personally sacrifice for the good of the whole country, was almost fully replaced with the bad nationalism of wrapping yourself in the flag and proclaiming yourself a patriot on paper.
Big Phoenix
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NUKES R EVILLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL OMG CHEYNOBL
says evil stupid retarded granola eating green peace piece of shit hippy.
Sentagur
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we can talk about the NIMBY types after the technology has been proven and a working prototype exists, but do you really think the hippies have so much political pull to actually stop even the early research before it even starts properly?
I dislike the Granola seaweed wrap eating flip-flops wearing tree humping dipshits just as much as the next guy, but blaming them for the total lack of government research in the thorium reactor field is a bit much.
The government has to step up, the free market is not going to throw money at an unproven technology, especially something as risky as nuclear energy and the few individuals that are actually working on this are not enough to beat China's multimillion investment.
I dislike the Granola seaweed wrap eating flip-flops wearing tree humping dipshits just as much as the next guy, but blaming them for the total lack of government research in the thorium reactor field is a bit much.
The government has to step up, the free market is not going to throw money at an unproven technology, especially something as risky as nuclear energy and the few individuals that are actually working on this are not enough to beat China's multimillion investment.
iannis
Musty Nester
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The question isn't so much centered on American Politicians as much as it is American Energy consortiums.
The politicians will say whatever they are paid to say.
I mean it's the almost the same thing... the salient difference is inwhoyou lobby. Don't write your congressman. Write his boss.
The politicians will say whatever they are paid to say.
I mean it's the almost the same thing... the salient difference is inwhoyou lobby. Don't write your congressman. Write his boss.
Big Phoenix
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Its not political pull, its the fact they scare the general population, much like fringe groups like VPC, Brady Bunch do when it comes to gun control. Decades of retarded propaganda spewed by far left groups has made the American public believe that nuclear is some evil voodoo thats going to mutate their baby. And the comment isnt directed at specifically thorium reactors, but the nuclear energy field in general. Who knows what tech we would have today if we hadnt stop developing it in the 70s.
Tuco
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Thorium reactors will happen when natural gas, oil, coal and other fissile materials become too expensive to power our world. It'd be nice to get them running and have a virtually unlimited power source before we start running out of the other materials but if we don't it's ok too.
Cad
scientia potentia est
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Except our carbon footprint would drop dramatically if we switched to electric propulsion for vehicles and thorium/fission nuclear reactors for the electricity source. Its not simply a convenience of materials question.
TheBeagle
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Carbon footprints and global warming just aren't in-your-face enough for the retarded masses to ever consider inconveniencing their own lives to do something about it. Tuco's right, until it becomes too expensive, it's full steam ahead with the fossil fuels.
iannis
Musty Nester
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I heard something about this on BBC a few days ago. I wasn't paying much attention. What I remember is that some euro markets are starting to reflect these ideas in stock prices (somehow, through financial regulations I think. Magic). The idea being that you have to quantify these abstracts AS risk. So basically I think it was just a fancy worded report about how they're doing emissions taxes.
Big Phoenix
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Cad
scientia potentia est
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Big Phoenix
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Cad
scientia potentia est
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So... you don't see how switching to electric cars would reduce our need for gasoline? Really? Or how shutting down oil fired electric plants in favor of nuclear whether they be thorium or uranium reactors would reduce our oil need?
Big Phoenix
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Petroleum product - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Im all for nuclear energy and better tech, but its foolish to think that if tomorrow cars magically ran on happy thoughts we wouldnt still need lots of oil.
Lithose
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The thing is, power generation isn't our problem. Enough energy falls, literally, out of the sky in a minute to power everything on earth for a day--solar power(And it's not complex, we don't even need photoelectric cells, we can just use mirrors). And storing solar isn't impossible, the same molten salt system Thorium reactors use, Solar reactors can use to store energy over night . Or hell, we can pump water up a large hill and then use hydro power, or a host of other ways to store solar energy (Like converting it to a biomass fuel). The point is, we easily have the capability right now to replace all power needs with solar, and not have night or cloud/overcast cycles affect us, except a few special cases that require potability or high mass to energy ratios (Like jets).
The problem is price though. Oil and natural gas and coal are justsignificantlycheaper. Even if Thorium is viable, if it's not cheaper than gas or oil or coal at producing Killowats per dollar? It's still useless, again because the answer is not just about the ability to produce energy. We have the ability to produce an endless amount of energy, forever. It's about producing it cheaper. And I think that's the thing, people don't realize just how amazing we are at extracting coal, oil and gas from the earth--we do it really well, and very efficiently. It's hard for other forms of energy to meet that price point.
TLDR: Its not about energy. Producing energy for everyone is trivial. The question is, can you produce it at the price of carbon?
The problem is price though. Oil and natural gas and coal are justsignificantlycheaper. Even if Thorium is viable, if it's not cheaper than gas or oil or coal at producing Killowats per dollar? It's still useless, again because the answer is not just about the ability to produce energy. We have the ability to produce an endless amount of energy, forever. It's about producing it cheaper. And I think that's the thing, people don't realize just how amazing we are at extracting coal, oil and gas from the earth--we do it really well, and very efficiently. It's hard for other forms of energy to meet that price point.
TLDR: Its not about energy. Producing energy for everyone is trivial. The question is, can you produce it at the price of carbon?
Melvin
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According to the page you just linked gasoline, diesel, and "other" fuels account for ~72% of the US's refined oil products, andthe sourceof those numbers looks pretty convincing to me. How is 72% of the end result a by-product?