Update on Thorium and the Future of Nuclear Energy

Considering that the world is drowning in a sea of pseudo-scientific crap, it’s good that organizations like the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, founded in 1963) are still publishing papers that provide us the truth about where technology is going.  This has increased importance today, insofar as certain technologies, e.g., nuclear energy, may well be the make/break point for life on Earth.

Those who have read my books know that I’m desperately hoping for breakthroughs in what is called “advanced nuclear,” meaning safer and more practical ways of converting mass into energy, thus enabling our civilization to decarbonize our transportation and energy sectors.  I’m a huge advocate for renewable energy, but I’m concerned that solar and wind cannot scale to remove fossil fuels from our energy portfolio.

Needless to say, the corruption associated with present-day American politics makes this struggle that much more intense, as our president, at the behest of Big Oil, is doing everything possible to put a halt to our capacity to put an end to the baking of our planet.

Here’s a paper on what I hope to be our ticket out of all this: the fission of thorium.