More on the LFTR Aassessment

The recent  publication, Technology Assessment  of Molten Salt Reactor Design, The Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor  (LFTR) by The Electrical Power Research Institute.has proven to be a wonderful read that will enlighten anyone who is seriously interested in the potential of nuclear power.  I am reeding it through the magic of the Google Chrome speech feature.  

Kirk Sorensen has always been a talented commentator.  So it is quite appropriate that a detailed assessment of his LFTR project would be extremely well written.  Technological issues are, of course, discussed, but in a way that might require nuclear literacy, but not specialized engineering or scientific training.  Nuclear literacy refers to to ability to understand the language used to express the concepts of nuclear science and technology. People who want to understand words and terms in that language, can do so by googleing  them on the Internet.  Many people are nuclear literate without receiving technological training.  I am one of them.  I picked up some nuclear literacy     during my childhood, because my father was a Reactor scientist, and because the local newspaper, The Oak Ridger, carried front pafe stories that required learning nuclear literacy to comprehend.  At any rate there are a good number of people who possess nuclear literacy skills, including business people, administrators, politicians and even some journalists and bloggers. Anti nuclear activists, seldom posses nuclear literacy skills.  After all they don't want to come across research documents that say their pet ideas about nuclear power are wrong.

At any rate the recently published "Technological Assessment" of the LFTRoffers a good read to anyone who is Nuclear Literate, and is further accessable to anyone who wishes to acquire Nuclear Litewracy skills.  It provides a royal road to understanding why Alvin Weinberg and Kirk Sorensen found the LFTR concept to be so wonderful, and why the hard headed business people of the Southern corperation are interested in its development, even if that takes 20 years  It also offers a careful examination of lFTR safety issues, and the Development challenges the LFTR faces during that 20 year period.  It also provides a lot of information about Molten Salt Reactor technology in general.  An understanding of Molten Salt Nuclear technology will grow more important during the next ten years as commercial MSRs begin to near Market readiness.  The full implications of MSR technology will become increasingly important, if MSRs are to reach their full potential to mitigate climate change.  People need to understand what the MSRs, including Kirk Sorensen's lFTR have to offer, and exactly how far this technology can lead us out of our current mess.