nuclear power stations:

[billy]

Excellent point!

From the thorium reactor Wiki article:

A 2005 report by the International Atomic Energy Agency discusses potential benefits along with the challenges of thorium reactors. According to Australian science writer Tim Dean, "thorium promises what uranium never delivered: abundant, safe and clean energy - and a way to burn up old radioactive waste." With a thorium nuclear reactor, Dean stresses a number of added benefits: there is no possibility of a meltdown, it generates power inexpensively, it does not produce weapons-grade by-products, and will burn up existing high-level waste as well as nuclear weapon stockpiles. Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, of the British Daily Telegraph, suggests that "Obama could kill fossil fuels overnight with a nuclear dash for thorium," and could put "an end to our dependence on fossil fuels within three to five years." He also points out that "China is leading the way" with its own "dash for thorium," which it announced in March 2011.

who ever wrote the 2005 report seems to be talking out of his bottom.

here's some quotes from a 2010 source witch i'll give as well.

Health effects

As with all radioactive materials, thorium is dangerous to the health of humans and other animals. It must be handled with great caution. Living cells that absorb radiation are damaged or killed. Inhaling a radioactive element is especially dangerous because it exposes fragile internal tissues.

Scientists would like to find a way to use this process to make uranium-233 economically. Thorium is much more abundant than uranium. It would be far cheaper to make nuclear bombs and nuclear power plants with thorium than with uranium.

Unfortunately, no one has figured how to make the process work on a large scale. One nuclear reactor using thorium was built near Platteville, Colorado, in 1979. However, a number of economic and technical problems developed. After only ten years of operation, the plant was shut down. The promise of thorium fission plants has yet to become reality.

The trick is to start with an isotope of thorium, thorium-232. Thorium-232 has a very long half life of 14 billion years. If thorium-232 is bombarded with neutrons, it goes through a series of nuclear changes, first to thorium-233, then to protactinium-233, and finally to uranium-233. The whole process only takes about a month. At the end of the month, a supply of uranium-233 has been produced. This isotope of uranium has a fairly long half life, about 163,000 years. So once it has been made, it stays around for a long time. It can then be used for nuclear fission.

Scientists would like to find a way to use this process to make uranium-233 economically. Thorium is much more abundant than uranium. It would be far cheaper to make nuclear bombs and nuclear power plants with thorium than with uranium.

just the quotes above scare me, if it can make nukes cheaper then thats what it would be used for. it is radioactive and would kill just like any other radioactive material once the 233 isotope was made.
basically if they succed in using thorium the worlds weapons arsnels will expand exponentially and it will be almost impossible to monitor.

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