$0 Free 20 Movies on Safe (post-Fukushima) "Nuclear 2.0" (MSRs, Energy from Thorium, LFTRs)

IVI on 27/10/2014 - 06:12
Last edited 27/10/2014 - 06:32

Moved to Forum: Original Link

Here's a free way to access 20 of the best movies on "Nuclear 2.0"

"Nuclear 2.0" is the new (post-Fukushima), Safe, Cheap, Abundant Sustainable Energy option, & you can learn more about it (eg, so you'll be ready for it, when it arrives in AU).

Across 20 doco's (long & short) you can learn / explore:

  • Science behind Energy from Thorium
  • arguments for "Nuclear 2.0" = liquid-fuel nuclear reactors
  • arguments against nuclear energy, from Helen Caldicott
    . (AU's own anti-nuclear "fear monger"), with rebuttals)

The latest from Canada is: from Dr David LeBlanc, whose company estimates they'll have their Molten Salt Reactor (MSR) design both Approved & In Use - in Canada - within 6 to 8 years.

MSRs can be used to produce Heat or Electricity, so - when they become widely used - their use will PRECLUDE the need for "Fracking" mining.

(Did you know: Fracking wells last only about 3 years, unlike the destruction they can bring to land, water tables, etc.)

PS For a clear argument for energy-dense Nuclear, get David MacKay's book:

  • "Sustainable Energy - Without the Hot Air"

View MacKay's talk, on the his book's main ideas. at:

A PDF version of the above book is available at same site;
an easily extensible version of the same is available at:

…which also offers books on many fields, in PDF (all Free).

Free Software/Websites

Related Stores

Google Play Thorium Remix
Google Play Thorium Remix

Comments

  • [Deactivated] on 27/10/2014 - 06:56
    +1

    Sounds interesting, thank you.

    • IVI on 27/10/2014 - 10:41

      You're very welcome.

  • jv on 27/10/2014 - 07:04

    Hmmm, I wonder who is funding these?

    • IVI on 27/10/2014 - 09:42
      +1

      I know some of the proponents' names.

      One is a Canadian doco film-maker (YouTube channel: GordonMcDowell or similar), whose projects or travel I have once helped (via KickStarter.com) to fund. I name him first because he may have created the Thorium remix doco (2011, on YouTube).

      Another is seen on several of the longer doco's (also in a 10-min TED-talk, given in Calgary): Kirk Sorensen. He's quite a good speaker, & seems well informed / educated on these topics. Kirk co-founded FLiBe Energy.

      John Kutsch appears in some of the films; I think he co-founded the growing Thorium Energy Alliance, which organises well-attended Thorium Energy Alliance Conferences (TEAC's through # 5 or 6, by now, I think).

      Who actually pays the bills (ie, besides KickStarter members, like me, around the world), I'm not sure.

      There's a growing community of clever, thinking people, who want to see MSRs & Thorium-fueled LFTRs replace costly & wasteful solid fuel-rod based "Fukushima-class" reactors, of the pre - "Nuclear 2.0" era.

      Another international conference on this was held - last October - at CERN, in Geneva. Among others, former UN weapons-inspector - Hans Blix spoke (favorably, I would say) about MSR's & LFTR's non-proliferation features.

      A guy from Venezuela - Prof Dr Eduardo Greaves - went through the features & some "yet to do's" in a 36-min YouTube-talk.

      From all indications, "Nuclear 2.0" & Energy from Thorium are on a lot of folks' agendas, not to mention countries'…

      • China has hundreds of scientists & engineers working up plans for 2 slightly different MSR designs (at least one to use Thorium)

      • India is working on a prototype

      • Taiwan has a project to produce process heat

      • Norway (despite its continuing revenues from oil) has created a Thorium Research Lab

      • Canada (whose earlier "CanDU" reactor reportedly doesn't need costly fuel-rods, I think) has David LeBlanc's company estimating 6 to 8 years to having small, factory-made, truck-transportable, Molten Salt Reactors (MSRs) in operation.

      They seem to be getting funded by (or it's a joint-venture with) some of Canada's "fracking" miners, so they can save $$$ & reduce their mines' carbon footprint. (Today, they haul & burn lots of gas; soon they expect one or more small, modular MSRs to supply their process heat needs).

      Australian "fracking" miners need to come to the party, IMO.

      The only risk (to the miners) might be that - once MSRs &/or LFTRs are proven safe & efficient - especially, in smaller, cheaper, transportable form-factors (of LeBlanc's designs) - "fracking" mines won't be needed any more… a very good thing, IMO. :-)

      (Some suggest [smaller] MSRs can refueled once every 30 years, & could operate underground between refueling cycles!)

      Since they can be configured to burn (as fuel) the spent-fuel from existing nuclear plants (& even Plutonium from old weapons), it might be nice to transport a small MSR (so configured) to where ever that spent-fuel, etc. is being stored, ie, it will never need costly secure storage.

      (MSRs & LFTRs produce a small fraction of the waste of their older sibblings, & it's said to need secure storage for shorter period of time.)

      You'll find all this - & lots more - across the 20 doco's, available via the "Thorium" remix app… just be sure to use lower-cost WiFi (from your home ADSL or Macca's or - more likely - IKEA?), so you don't have to declare bankruptcy, after the month you spend working your way through 20 doco's… ;-)

      Enjoy, Learn & - if you become convinced - Spread the Word!

      Imagine how lots of Safe, Cheap, Green, Abundant Energy could change AU for the better… Then… help Make it So! :-)

  • Diji1 on 27/10/2014 - 07:19
    +4

    This post looks like propaganda.

    • IVI on 27/10/2014 - 10:17

      It is "pro-Nuclear" but its makers were "gracious" enough to include the views of a well-funded (by donations) opponent - AU's own Dr Helen Haldicott (who - BTW - was interviewed, at length, on ABC's "One to One").

      (For those who want a more concise or coherent criticism of nuclear energy, I'd say:

      • Find the YouTube video(s) of Canadian Greens leader [from USA, I understand]: MP Elizabeth May - either speaking, or replying to a question by Canadian doco film-maker Gordon McDowell.

      Her list is crisp, but seems to assume Pre "Nuclear 2.0" (ie, solid-fuel) technology, & one point I give her is Loss of Jobs.

      So, fewer will need to work in coal mines, truck & train fossil fuels around, etc. & maybe more doctors will be free to focus on preventative health care, ie, rather than -treating- people who live near coal-burning power stations… I can live with all of that.)

      IF it's "propaganda" - as you suggest - then it's been pretty well received by some impressively equipped people, around the world, as well as several governments.

      (Oh, there was a successful Molten Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE) conducted - in the 50's or 60's - at Oak Ridge National Lab's, in USA.

      One or or more of the web sites of pro-Thorium groups has PDFs of reports from Oak Ridge Lab's, & you can have a read…

      Also, some of the surviving scientists &/or engineers who worked on the MSRE are interviewed in one or more of the 20 doco's, so you can hear their perspectives on the early work.)

      WHAT I WANT TO SEE IS A =DEBATE= between:

      • AU's ANTI-NUKE GREENS &
      • a team of "Nuclear 2.0" advocates.

      I'm told that the Greens "discussed Nuclear 2.0 internally" & decided (for their Members!) NOT to support "Nuclear 2.0"

      They did not offer any reasons for holding their position on Nuclear Energy.

      I'm CONCERNED that the Greens don't think their Members can understand the Science that distinguishes solid-fuel from liquid-fuel (or - more accurately - water-cooled vs molten-salt cooled) reactors…

      So, rather than Educating Members to the differences, they would BLOCK "Nuclear 2.0" along with older "Fukushima-class" reactors.

      "What would Bob Brown do about Nuclear 2.0?" (Does anyone have his tel. no.? IF so, can you find out for us, thanks? ;-)

      PS I found a video of a talk, given at US Nuclear Industry annual conference; not a single word about MSRs, LFTRs or Energy from Thorium was mentioned.

      Only [Westinghouse's] AP1000 - which continues to be based on "ancient" high-pressure [light water reator] technology, as were Fukushima's… While it may be safer… it's NOT as Safe as liquid-fueled reactors, for reasons that some of the doco's make clear.

      A younger speaker (at another venue & event) mentioned, that none of the early "Nuclear 2.0" work was mentioned, in his education / training to become a Nuclear Engineer.

      Bias & info-omission is more indicative of "propaganda" (in his education / training) than in this set of 20 doco's, IMO.

  • Baysew on 27/10/2014 - 18:33

    Pretty impressive stuff, but how come you don't know about COSTCO.

    See IVI posts
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/166893

    • IVI on 28/10/2014 - 12:07

      On this page:

      we find:

      "The Importance of Living by Lin Yutang - Quotations"

      Lin Yutang quotations from The Importance of Living:

      The scholar, Taoist, and modernist Lin Yutang wrote "The Importance of Living" to express his highly subjective, personal feelings and advocate a practical and enjoyable simple life - all part of an unorthodox approach to life and philosophy among contemporary Westerners.

      Among ancient teachings he drew inspiration from the Chuang Tzu, where it is said:

      • "Only those who take leisurely what the people of the world are busy about can be busy about what the people of the world take leisurely."

      —

      "What am I, chopped liver? ;-)

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