‘Safe’ Nuclear Energy?

I've never been a fan of nuclear. I've always felt we can go a long way by reducing our energy wastage and increasing our use of renewable energy technology. Most of Muddy Carrot  HQ's energy usage is derived from the sun, either passively through the solar energy that streams through the south facing windows, or through renewables - the solar panels heating the water and PVs generating electricity. There is no central heating, but loads of insulation. This is not complicated, or expensive technology, just clever thinking in the construction. I also know a couple of farmers that have turned to farming the sun with fields full of solar panels their sheep can happily graze and shelter beneath.  

One country that has made huge CO2 savings by being very forward thinking when it comes to sustainability is Germany and, though they are very effective, they still can not gain all their energy from renewables.

The recent nuclear popularity in turning to uranium fission power stations as a way to generate more electricity whilst keeping CO2 levels low has come to an end, with the Fukushima melt down that spread dangerous radioactive waves throughout the surrounding area. It could have been even worse if it was not for a team of heroic firemen that put their own health at risk in a determined effort to cool the reactor. What happened that day is likely to have a long term effect on Japan.

However, theoretically there is a far more stable and plentiful means of generating nuclear energy. Thorium.

There are numerous benefits of thorium over uranium, the key ones being:

Distribution of Thorium reserves across the globe

• There is a plentiful supply of thorium and it is far more easily extracted than uranium.
• Thorium is also much less radioactive than uranium, allowing far more stable reactors. 
• It is also considerably more energy dense; you could hold a lifetime supply of energy in thorium in the palm of your hand.
• It does not have the by-product of plutonium used in nuclear weapons.

Further research into thorium reactors is supported by some key environmental protection groups who are anti traditional nuclear power stations, including the influential Friends of The Earth who believe that this could indeed be the way forward.  

Thorium is not a new idea. The idea was first successfully tested in the 1950's, but the military saw the advantage of Uranium with the generation of Plutonium for their war heads and governments invested in the development of Uranium power stations over Thorium Power Stations.  

Theoretically thorium reactors would be based on the very early molten salt reactors which would not explode if overheated due to the fact that the salt contracts rather than expanding causing the reactor to remain sub-critical. The Thorium reactors would also be far more efficient at being cleaned than traditional uranium stations, with the waste being less harmful than uranium waste and able to be re-cycled.

It all sounds very good, but it has so far only been tested at an experimental level. Although this may seem amazing on paper it may take considerable time to develop it to a commercial level, and with nuclear energy having a messy past of horrific failures it has a lot of powerful opposition who don’t want any more nuclear disasters - thorium reactors may never catch on.