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energy talk : thorium.

Posted: Sun May 06, 2018 2:23 pm
by Hellatze
thorium, safest material to produce, mine, and control. while nuclear reactor are dangerous.

they are awesome clean energy to use, beside using that uranium.

(i really hope uranium actually poisonous.)

Re: energy talk : thorium.

Posted: Sun May 06, 2018 6:52 pm
by Jap2.0
You realize that it's still called a nuclear reactor if it uses thorium?

(also, this probably fits better in off topic, unless you're suggesting we use thorium as a replacement to uranium in-game, in which case it should go in ideas and suggestions, but I doubt that's the case.)

Re: energy talk : thorium.

Posted: Mon May 07, 2018 11:22 am
by Hellatze
Jap2.0 wrote:You realize that it's still called a nuclear reactor if it uses thorium?

(also, this probably fits better in off topic, unless you're suggesting we use thorium as a replacement to uranium in-game, in which case it should go in ideas and suggestions, but I doubt that's the case.)
nvm its stupid idea.

Re: energy talk : thorium.

Posted: Mon May 07, 2018 5:38 pm
by HurkWurk
i think people really misunderstand nuclear reactors.

they arent unsafe. they are completely misused.
back when we first started looking into nuclear steam generation methods, no one could really afford to do the research into what "safe" looked like. but US Navy looked at it entirely different. they were looking to power ships, so the safety aspects were entirely different. a nuclear incident at sea was unlikely to affect any significant population, and sailors signed up for the risk anyway.
so they sat about designing a reactor for use on water and with an infinite supply of sea water for cooling, etc. of course the regulating bodies that existed at the time approved everything once it was working and it became a defacto standard.

later, when private businesses decided to look at nuclear, they just re-used everything the Navy did since it was all approved for use. except they dont have an unlimited source of sea water. so the 'on land' use of an at sea design is the flaw.

since that time, more research has been done on safe nuclear energy production on land, and without a need for unlimited water.

in the sense of a game like factorio, the whole point of nuclear power is entirely different; supercritical steam isnt needed. (though the game does currently implement it) we could just as easily use a small amount of nuclear fuel to simply boil water and use the resulting steam at normal pressure ranges and never actually have enough material to go critical, even if all the water evaporates. this could be done forever on a small amount of nuclear fuel.

Re: energy talk : thorium.

Posted: Mon May 07, 2018 10:39 pm
by bobucles
this could be done forever on a small amount of nuclear fuel.
Indeed. One of the most lasting lessons about nuclear power is this: Big reactors make big problems. The solution is very simple and obvious: Make a lot of small reactors. Nuclear power doesn't really care about economy of scale because fission works the same way whether it's big or small. So if something goes wrong in a small reactor, it's very easy to deal with.

Re: energy talk : thorium.

Posted: Tue May 08, 2018 12:21 pm
by Koub
Yeay, that's why the "build smaller" nuclear reactors is on a roll nowadays.

Re: energy talk : thorium.

Posted: Wed May 09, 2018 12:28 pm
by rldml
Well... actually...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_f ... er_station

Money Quote:
According to Rosatom, 15 countries, including China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Algeria, Namibia, Cape Verde and Argentina, have shown interest in hiring such a device.
Of course it is approved russian nuclear technology. What could possibly happen? :twisted:

Greetings, Ronny

Re: energy talk : thorium.

Posted: Wed May 09, 2018 4:44 pm
by HurkWurk
Koub wrote:Yeay, that's why the "build smaller" nuclear reactors is on a roll nowadays.
this has more to do with the regulation of nuclear fuels than the economy and safety.

again, in a game setting, where there is no government to control things, practical replaces regulated use.