Thanks for the thoughtful reply. I think the “shipyard guys” are trying to tackle 1 & 2 (as well as lessening the concrete on #3). Though, I would be surprised if your numbers for #3 are right… it seems odd to me that a ton of concrete would produce about a ton of CO2 (but maybe it’s just one of those counter-intuitive things!). Thorium is interesting for #3/mining because it is produced (unrefined) by rare-earth mines (unlike special-purpose uranium mines). As for #4, I would argue simply that it is “better than coal” insomuch as we have neither found a good way of dealing with the fly-ash and soot-ash from coal power plants (yet they operate); i.e. ash ponds & coal ash impoundments.
I gotta say, the C02 number seems very high to me too, just got that from a quick search and saw that a couple of times. I haven’t investigated it closely tbh.
I wasn’t aware of the mining differences between uranium and thorium, that is encouraging.
Regarding the waste, that’s a fair point as well. Thanks for the response! Interesting points.
I used to be very pro nuclear energy. Besides the waste and the occasional meltdown it seemed like a no brainer as a renewable supplement. After learning a little more about it though it just seems like we have more runway for positive growth with wind and solar than nuclear, but I’d be happy to be proven wrong.
Thanks for the thoughtful reply. I think the “shipyard guys” are trying to tackle 1 & 2 (as well as lessening the concrete on #3). Though, I would be surprised if your numbers for #3 are right… it seems odd to me that a ton of concrete would produce about a ton of CO2 (but maybe it’s just one of those counter-intuitive things!). Thorium is interesting for #3/mining because it is produced (unrefined) by rare-earth mines (unlike special-purpose uranium mines). As for #4, I would argue simply that it is “better than coal” insomuch as we have neither found a good way of dealing with the fly-ash and soot-ash from coal power plants (yet they operate); i.e. ash ponds & coal ash impoundments.
I gotta say, the C02 number seems very high to me too, just got that from a quick search and saw that a couple of times. I haven’t investigated it closely tbh.
I wasn’t aware of the mining differences between uranium and thorium, that is encouraging.
Regarding the waste, that’s a fair point as well. Thanks for the response! Interesting points.
I used to be very pro nuclear energy. Besides the waste and the occasional meltdown it seemed like a no brainer as a renewable supplement. After learning a little more about it though it just seems like we have more runway for positive growth with wind and solar than nuclear, but I’d be happy to be proven wrong.