More On LFTRs

More On LFTRs

As of right now, an attempt to shift the world away from carbon based means of producing energy would be very difficult. This of course is the product of many calculated legislative campaigns, a powerfully misinformed public, and a discouraging lack of alternative energy infrastructure. Even with these hurdles, the world will eventually have to hoist itself into a more suitable means of producing energy, cue the Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor (LFTR). These fission reactors are one of the many ways the world can propel itself into affordable green energy production, but more than that they have the potential to revert all of the negative stigmas associated with nuclear reactors. This is because of the astonishing amount of safety features used in Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors, as well as Thorium itself being a safer alternative to Uranium and Plutonium.

One of the primary concerns the public has with nuclear reactors is the fear of a meltdown. This fear originates from such disasters as the Chernobyl nuclear plant meltdown, during which several containment failures during a systems test resulted in graphite fires as well as the core material reaching critical mass causing a nuclear excursion equivalent to the simultaneous detonation of ten tons of TNT. Thankfully, this reaction was limited to only a small portion of the core, and the blast was largely contained by the reactor itself. Still, this accident spewed thousands of tons of radioactive material into the atmosphere causing health defects for the people of Pripyat and resulting in an exclusion zone of over one thousand square miles. Today, more recent events like the seven mile island incident and the Fukushima Daiichi disaster keep the fear of nuclear reactors kindled, and slows the expansion of nuclear energy. However the threat of a nuclear meltdown occurring in a LFTR is almost none for several reasons. First, LFTRs operate at substantially lower temperatures than conventional reactors. With Uranium reactors the internal core temperature must be around 1000 degrees kelvin (1300 Fahrenheit) in order to get the Uranium to start firing off neutrons, whereas LFTRs operate at about 600 degrees kelvin (626 Fahrenheit). Obviously, the Thorium reactors can produce energy at a much more manageable temperature, but the real advantage to these reactors is the lack of pressure needed in the reaction. The most common Uranium reactors have to keep water in the reactor core at 150atm of pressure, or 150 times the pressure you feel on the surface of the earth. LFTRs on the other hand, produce energy at regular atmospheric pressure. This is good, because it means that the reactor won't pop if there's a problem. Malfunctions in the coolant systems of Uranium reactors cause the core to overheat and then burst like a 1000 degree radioactive balloon, but Thorium reactors in the event of a coolant failure wouldn't detonate in any way. Even if they could, radiation from a Thorium reaction is not harmful to humans. LTFRs produce what's known as Alpha wave radiation, these alpha particles lose their kinetic energy after travelling through a few centimeters of air due to a short mean free path. These particles lose their energy so quickly that they can be effectively shielded by a piece of paper, and even if not shielded these particles cannot penetrate the epidermis. This means that Thorium reactors have the clear advantage over Uranium in the field of safety, because radiation from LFTRs is not harmful to humans.