Named for the Norse god of thunder, thorium is a lustrous silvery-white metal. It’s only slightly radioactive; you could carry a lump of it in your pocket without harm. On the periodic table of elements, it’s found in the bottom row, along with other dense, radioactive substances — including uranium and plutonium — known as actinides. Actinides are dense because their nuclei contain large numbers of neutrons and protons. But it’s the strange behavior of those nuclei that has long made actinides the stuff of wonder. At intervals that can vary from every millisecond to every hundred thousand years, actinides spin off particles and decay into more stable elements. And if you pack together enough of certain actinide atoms, their nuclei will erupt in a powerful release of energy. There are many lingering questions about thorium, including sourcing the fuel, regulations, industrial inertia and persistent fears about radiation. While the disaster at Fukushima raised the specter of atomic destruction and pushed countries like Germany and Switzerland to announce an end to their nuclear programs, it’s also proved to be another teachable moment about how and why technologies come to be, and how to improve them. In the interest of cutting greenhouse gases, prominent climate scientists and environmentalists and technologists and presidents still argue that nuclear is a worthy enough technology to keep researching and improving. Before Fukushima, Obama’s nuclear policy was that safer nuclear plants are a “necessity,” and in February of 2010, he committed $8 billion in loan guarantees for new plant construction. His tune hasn’t changed – a reflection perhaps of the success of the industry’s lobbying and donations.
Posted on: Tue, 30 Sep 2014 09:17:01 +0000
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