The Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor What Fusion Wanted To Be

Google Tech Talks November 18, 2008 ABSTRACT Electrical power is,
and will increasingly become, the desired form of energy for its
convenience, safety, flexibility and applicability. Even future
transportation embraces electric cars, trains, and chemical fuel
production (jet fuel, hydrogen, etc.) based upon an abundant
electrical supply. Although existing energy sources can and should
be expanded where practical, no one source has shown to be practical
to rapidly fulfill the worlds energy requirements effectively.
Presently there is an existing source of energy ideally suited to
electrical energy production that is not being exploited anywhere in
the world today, although its existence and practicality has been
know since the earliest days of nuclear science. Thorium is the
third source of fission energy and the LFTR is the idealized
mechanism to turn this resource into electrical energy. Enough safe,
clean energy, globally sustainable for 1000s of years at US
standards. This talk is aimed at explaining this thorium energy
resource from fundamental physics to todays practical applications.
The presentation is sufficient for the non-scientist to grasp the
whole subject, but will be intriguing to even classically trained
nuclear engineers. By providing the historical context in which the
technology was discovered and later developed into a power reactor,
the story of thoriums disappearance as an energy source is revealed.
But times have changed, and today, thorium energy can be safely
exploited in a completely new form of nuclear reactor. The LFTR is
unique, having a hot liquid core thus eliminating fuel fabrication
costs and the need for a large reactor. It cannot have a nuclear
meltdown and is so safe that typical control rods are not required
at all. This design topples all the conventional arguments against
conventional energy sources in such areas as * Waste Production *
Safety * Proliferation * Capital Costs and Location * Environmental
Impact * Social Acceptance * Flexibility * Grid Infrastructure *
Efficiency Should America take this step toward a New Era in Nuclear
Energy Production? Hear the case for The Electricity Rock and then
decide. Speaker Dr. Joe Bonometti Dr. Bonometti has extensive
engineering experience in the government, within industry, and in
academia over a 25-year career. Recently completing an assignment as
the NASA Chair Professor at the Naval Post graduate School, he
supported a ship design study that utilized advanced nuclear power
derived from thorium. Working at NASA for ten years as a technology
manager, lead systems engineer, nuclear specialist, and propulsion
researcher, he lead several NASA tiger teams in evaluating the
Nuclear System Initiatives fission demonstration vehicle and
missions. He managed the Emerging Propulsion Technology Area for
in-space systems, the Marshall Air Launch team, as well as a variety
of other power and propulsion assignments and is now the Lead
Systems Engineer for the Ares IY flight. After earning a Doctorate
degree in Mechanical Engineering from University of Alabama in
Huntsville, he spent several years as a Research Scientist

Google Tech Talks November 18, 2008 ABSTRACT Electrical power is,
and will increasingly become, the desired form of energy for its
convenience, safety, flexibility and applicability. Even future
transportation embraces electric cars, trains, and chemical fuel
production (jet fuel, hydrogen, etc.) based upon an abundant
electrical supply. Although existing energy sources can and should
be expanded where practical, no one source has shown to be practical
to rapidly fulfill the worlds energy requirements effectively.
Presently there is an existing source of energy ideally suited to
electrical ene...