{"id":289,"date":"2011-02-04T05:16:16","date_gmt":"2011-02-04T03:16:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/twugbcn.wordpress.com\/?p=289"},"modified":"2011-02-04T05:16:16","modified_gmt":"2011-02-04T03:16:16","slug":"letter-to-the-editor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sa-lftr.com\/ae\/letter-to-the-editor\/","title":{"rendered":"Letter to the Editor"},"content":{"rendered":"

This letter sent this past November to Der Spiegel <\/span><\/strong>is worth a look…<\/span><\/p>\n

Jess Smee \/ Der Spiegel \/ <\/em>Brandstwiete 19, D-20457 \/ <\/em>Hamburg, Germany<\/em><\/address>\n
<\/em><\/address>\n
<\/address>\n
<\/address>\n

November 11, 2010<\/em>
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/address>\n
Dear Herr Smee,<\/em>
\n<\/em><\/address>\n
<\/address>\n
The online edition of der Spiegel dated November 8 reported that over the previous weekend, masses of anti-nuclear German protestors impeded a train carrying casks of radioactive waste from a nuclear processing site in France to a storage site near the village of Gorleben in northern Germany. Such protests have occurred since the shipments started 15 years ago. However, the protests this year have been bigger and more violent, reflecting anger over Chancellor Angela Merkel\u2019s recent decision to extend the life spans of Germany\u2019s 17 nuclear power plants by an average of 12 years.<\/em>
\n<\/em><\/address>\n

What do the protestors want? Quite simply, they want an end to nuclear power in Germany. But what will replace it? \u00a0Switching to Renewables will not cover Germany\u2019s energy requirements by 2020, according to die Welt, cited in your article. You quote die Welt: \u201cTherefore the coal power stations will have to produce more of our power. More and more power stations have been built in Germany since the decision to phase out nuclear. These power stations have a disastrous impact on the climate.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em>
\nWhat about the \u201cdisastrous impact\u201d of coal mining itself on the workers? According to Time Magazine, in 2009 there were 34 mining fatalities in the US. That same year, there were 2631 mining fatalities in China, down from 6995 in 2002. We haven\u2019t mentioned the hundreds of thousands of early deaths caused by respiratory illnesses resulting directly from air polluting coal-fired plants.<\/em>
\nYou have to ask yourself: \u00a0are more coal-fired plants the best that Germany\u2019s Green Party can come up with?<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em>
\nIf you could wave a magic wand and create the ideal source of electric power, not only for Germany but also for China and the rest of the world, what would it look like? Well, I can answer that question for you.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em>
\nFrom the foregoing, it is clear that the ideal power source, first and foremost, would completely replace coal forever as a source of electric power around the world. Think about that for a minute. Millions of tons of soot and CO2 eliminated from the environment, along with thousands of deaths among workers and the population in general caused by coal mining and by that pollution. This ideal power source may even obviate the need for any cap and trade laws.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em>
\nThe ideal source of electric power I am referring to is Thorium. \u00a0And the best way to utilize this energy source is in the Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor (LFTR), which was known in the U.S. \u2013 some 40 to 60 years ago \u2013as the Molten Salt Reactor, or MSR.<\/em> Eliminating coal is only the first of many benefits from MSR, so please hear me out: <\/em><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Thorium is readily available in many parts of the world so there cannot be a monopoly. <\/em> It is more abundant that uranium \u2013 over four times more \u2013 and it is considerably more concentrated in the rich deposits where it is found. \u00a0Known reserves will last for many, many thousands of years. \u00a0And unlike uranium, Thorium does not need any enrichment or other expensive or intensive processes to be usable for power.<\/em><\/li>\n
  2. Because the MSR consumes virtually all of its fuel, it produces a mere fraction of the radioactive waste being produced by today\u2019s plants. \u00a0And the waste it does produce becomes harmless in just hundreds (rather than hundreds of thousands) of years. \u00a0That should interest the protestors in Germany.<\/em><\/li>\n
  3. The MSR will burn virtually any nuclear fuel and can, in fact, safely and productively dispose of highly enriched nuclear weapons material, even burning Spent Nuclear Fuel. \u00a0SNF is the current political target causing so much controversy regarding waste storage, transportation and disposal. \u00a0Do you think German protestors would like knowing the MSR can consume old reactor waste?<\/em><\/li>\n
  4. The MSR is inherently safe because it operates near atmospheric pressure and uses no water that could flash explosively to steam. \u00a0Hence there is no need for huge and expensive containment buildings to protect against explosions.<\/em><\/li>\n
  5. By its very nature, the MSR will shut itself down automatically if something goes wrong, even if all electricity is lost and the operating staff for whatever reason is unavailable. \u00a0Thus the risk of another Three Mile Island or Chernobyl is basically nil.<\/em><\/li>\n
  6. The capital costs of the MSR are significantly less than those of present power plants. In fact, with modular manufacture, small- to medium-size MSRs can be:<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \u2022\tBuilt on an assembly line<\/em><\/p>\n

    <\/em><\/em><\/em>\u2022\tLoaded onto flatbed trucks<\/em><\/p>\n

    \u2022\tInstalled anywhere the trucks can go (think of building Boeing\u2019s A340 passenger plane).<\/em><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Molten Salt Reactor technology, nevertheless, is not new, nor unproven \u2013Tennessee\u2019s Oak Ridge National Laboratory proved over a half a century ago that MSR technology is reliable and safe.<\/em><\/li>\n
    2. Finally and most importantly, although the intermediate that forms from Thorium within an MSR makes the best nuclear fuel, making nuclear weapons with material bred from Thorium is extremely difficult if not impossible:<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      \u2022\tCountries intent on nuclear armament will always choose one of the two established paths to bombs: \u00a0\u00a0U-235 and\/or Pu-239. \u00a0Either of these well-worn paths is much less expensive and considerably \u00a0less hazardous than attempting Thorium-bred weapons material.<\/em><\/p>\n

      With Thorium, we have at our disposal a source of energy orders of magnitude superior to anything presently in existence or likely to be developed in the short term and perhaps ever.
      \n<\/em><\/p>\n

      We must only muster the courage to grasp it. \u00a0I hope you will help.
      \n<\/em><\/p>\n

      With kindest personal regards,
      \n<\/em><\/p>\n

      Robert Orr Jr.
      \nThoriumSilverBullet@gmail.com<\/a>
      \n1101 Natchez Road
      \nFranklin TN 37069
      \n<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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