Gord here! I finance travel and video capture and editing with a Patreon campaign. www.patreon.com/thorium ...and if you pledge only $1/year that's still a really big deal to me. I need both social reinforcement (many PEOPLE supporting) as well as actual financial support. So whichever you might have to offer, please do pledge something. Quite possibly, for 2020, I won't travel to a single conference. We will see. But I would be perfectly happy working with what I've shot to this point. Frankly, the most important asset I'm missing is not something I could ever get myself... that is laboratory footage. And at this point I expect the footage exists already, shot by everyone doing MSR work. Getting that is a matter of creating a communications piece stakeholders are comfortable letting me slot lab footage into. So if I'm spending any Gord-hours I can simply writing and editing, then I'm not-at-all feeling robbed by Covid-19. My communications with ORNL have been quite positive, and in regards to pieces like this. It is crazy-slow, but good. The very best value I could offer MSR advocates is to help ORNL create and release presentations and interviews like this themselves. They do already create educational and promotional pieces, but not at the volume nor specificity we want. ORNL MSRW went from zero public videos from ORNL MSRW 2017, to 3 from ORNL MSRW 2018, and it looks like we will (eventually) get 9 from ORNL MSRW 2019. Maybe 2020 won't happen, but they're aware that MORE is what MSR advocates want. ORNL sure don't need me to do this, except to get the ball rolling and demonstrate demand. If ORNL (and all National Labs doing nuclear R&D) did this themselves, I could gladly become irrelevant to the creation of these basic video assets and focus more on narrative. It is the narrative videos which tend to have a bigger impact. But I can't create narrative pieces without interviews such as these. (And lab footage.) So, again, if you can do Patreon then head here... www.patreon.com/thorium ... if that doesn't work for you please let me know what mechanism does. Thanks for your support, -Gord
Hi Gordon, thanks for all the work you're doing, it's important. I have a question...Kirk said he would need about 1b dollars to get this reactor built and running. I know this sounds crazy but...wouldnt it be possible to raise this money through kickstarter? By that I mean, is this a project that kickstarter would allow within their guidelines? I could write to them but I am assuming you would know the answer. Thanks!
@@machfive5871 I'm sure guidelines would allow it. Problem is there's no incentive for people to contribute other than everyone winning once reactor is built. Kickstarter is really most effective when people get something in return for their contribution. And since funding reactor development is so expensive, this would not be doable with casual $5 donations, it would require larger quantities of support. Larger the amounts, more important equity becomes. Moltex did conduct an equity-based crowdfunding round. (I will have to let you Google that as I don't know best summary to show you.) So possibly Flibe could do that. Basically, yes has been considered. But I don't think it would be successful without some new twist on conventional crowdfunding model. Kirk's 2020 opinion on the matter, I do not know.
Thanks Gordon, yes I understand, I'm familiar with kickstarter and I wondered "what could we give them in return" apart from the benefits to humanity of having the reactor built. But hopefully as more and more people become aware of it who knows...200 million people donating 5 dollars each could be possible, some day. Anything is possible! it would be great if Kirk could be interviewed by folks like Brian Rose from London Real, Russel brand, Joe Rogan... Well, I have only just found out about LFTR so I still have much to learn on the subject but I'm both fascinated about it and amazed at how so very few people know about this so please keep up the good work. Awareness is crucial.
@@gordonmcdowell How about asking Elon Musk? Electric cars and trucks are much more sexy with cheap, pollution free electricity. He also has enough money to help and a platform to speak from. He just put America back into manned space flight. I want to help either way.
Please connect me with kirk sorensen. mark_henne@yahoo.com nine o eight eight eight seven five five eight five garage six hill st oxford new jersey o seven eight six three; may have several things that are needed for kirk's projects. large quantities of th, mines where u two thirty eight is available, some already extracted, a strait three kilometer tunnel, abandoned iron ore crushing and smelting facilities of colonial times. water ponds and rivers connected above and below ground. oblivious tiny government with no comprehension of potential of existing resources. quickly i may be evicted from my home this week.
Kirk. You've done a stalwart job selling this. I commend you for never giving up. It's now 2019. TPTB have finally listened. It's time for you to concentrate on your Phd. Meanwhile, congratulations on receiving the GAIN voucher and the new collaboration with Oak Ridge. That's a heck of an accomplishment. The world needs you and the LTSWR.
@@baronvonlimbourgh1716 Sorry, that is a very simplistic view. What you have is an emotional investment in simply grasped understandings. Solar is just too weak and intermittent to serve us well.
@@winomaster nope, decentralised solar is allready taking over. And with personal storing solutions now becomming available and decreasing in price fast it will be what will be adopted by the public. A modest one time investment in a personal instalation can provide a household with all the energy it needs allready for at least 30 years, including personal transportation, on most places on the globe. Adoption is growing exponentionally as prices come down. Businesses are the biggest adopters of solar here, retailers, farm stables, factories and anything else with huge flat roofs. They are all being loaded with solar panels because they save money. And in some cases generate income. It is economics what drives this and with falling prices and increased efficienty these economic forces will only become stronger over time.
@@baronvonlimbourgh1716 Solar power can't cover the energy need by several orders of magnitude, if we don't use nuclear instead of coal pretty soon, all will be lost. Solar panels create a lot of carbon release, you have to mine the metal and minerals with coal power, the fabrication itself takes a lot of energy. You have to run a solar panel for years and years before you make up the energy consumption during production.
Kirk Sorensen needs to get on the Joe Rogan podcast. Like for serious. Early in this talk when he's talking about floating colonies, I'm instantly reminded of the Seasteading Institute who are doing just that. Joe Quirk from Seasteading got on Rogan; I don't see a damn reason why Kirk couldn't. And that would spread the message about LFTR like crazy.
@@VulcanData84 Because it's the biggest talk show in the history of the human species. It is literally THE biggest audience. Also you'll observe that I made this comment long before you or anyone else ever heard of Covid-19, let alone the Ivermectin controversy.
I remember when Kirk Sorensen used to work with Nasa. As a space buff I've been frequently using the formula he posted on his blog in 2010 for estimating the maximum payload of a rocket. Nice to see what he moved on to work with.
Andrew Sipos The thing is, how can we make that happen? Is there a way to suggest or petition to Rogan's people to look it up? Change.org is definitely not my first go to.
@@attaque71 No idea. As far as I can see, his show is more privately done. I don't see an official webpage. I think he and his buddies just know people that are famous and can reach out to get them on their show. Kirk, as great as he is, doesn't have that access I guess.
@@attaque71 I think your best bet would be to contact one of Rogan's lower level guests/buddies who're likely to actually respond to you, and then have them suggest Kirk to him. Several of his first time non-famous guests were suggestions by his guest friends (i.e. Sam Harris suggested Andrew Yang).
cyril: I told Gordon the other day that tritium was a problem, because once you make it it gets everywhere. I did not realize the lithium source was not in the hot section. The element conjugation can only happen in high neutron environs, and the lithium is in the secondary intercooler loop to the turbine section, or you would have plating out of the noble metals. High pressure co2 for the turbine driver is by far the best turbine driver, making the turbine much smaller.
gordonmcdowell Gordon, this is one of my FAVORITE videos ever. I've watched it many times. But I always skip over the first 5 minutes. I love your work, but I think you might want to revisit the notion of a "teaser". There is no such thing as a five-minute teaser. It seems like you're trying to cram the whole argument into the teaser, and it weakens the impact... it's overload... it's mostly incomprehensible to someone who isn't familiar with the issues and the lingo. Just "tease" with the first anectdote about the "Aircraft Reactor Experiment" and then jump to the opening credits... Intersperse the credits with more Kirk if you want, but otherwise just get us ASAP into Kirk's engaging delivery. That's what really "sells" this event. My $0.02... FWIW... ;-) Best Wishes, and keep up the great work!
Recently I did a class presentation in college on Thorium based energy, and since about two weeks ago I have become obsessed with it ! The more I research thorium and the LFTR reactor the better it sounds, as a person with a passion for science I'm compelled to raise the question: what are the drawbacks and limitations ? I really do want to believe this is as amazing as these sources are saying it is, especially when you consider the big picture this is sounding like LFTR reactors will bring about a revolution like that of steam engines or AC current. If anyone can provide why these thorium reactors aren't as hyped up as they appear to be I'd greatly appreciate it !
+James Joe Oh Joe, how I wish, God knows how I am all for the day when we Americans can celebrate the start-up of this country's second Liquid Fluoride Thorium molten salt reactor but one only has to think about those pesky NRC obstacles(regulations and the communist bastards that have been placed there) but mainly the highly radioactive particle(tritium)capturing(untested)capabilities, big dollar nuclear investor losses versus pipedream returns(remember WPPSS and power so cheap you won't be able to meter it. Lol)plus the problem of 300 degree celsius nickel-alloy long term corrosives/temperature(metallurgical) stability in mechanical(valves/vessels/piping)operations and the God d@#$ lobbyists who promote fossil fuels depletion by funding both sides of the aisle in their favor for the next Corporate(Sock Puppet)President of the USA to veto thorium because is not a multinational conglomerate corporation, yet. plus we are no longer manufacturing jack squat in this country for the simple reason "they"want us debt slaves to be service oriented and let the Chins design-build everything that is left on the NWO agendas as stated...The new world order will be brought in on the backs of a great democracy...It is neither new nor will it be order. FDR...enough said???
The reason I believe the U.S. isn't pushing to develop LFTR technology is because I think they've been using it for decades to power secret bases off the public grid. It's not that I'm a conspiracy theorist either, we know secret bases exist, we know they need lots of standalone electric power that doesn't need a giant cooling resevoir, and one with a low fuel consumption rate would be ideal. I bet anyone a dollar (limit five people) they are using LFTR's in these bases. If they are they realize how revolutionary the technology is and how destabilizing it would be for the OPEC nations, hence they have stonewalled the public use of the technology.
Douglas Dobson and just what do "they" do at these secret bases that nobody knows about but do exist that require so much power that could not be furnished by a small nuclear reactor like on many of the vessels in the US Navel fleet remembering that the USS Nimitz is a floating city of 5000+ and is so powered up by, maybe all night long Illuminati poker games that need all that power so their ice machines can run non-stop to keep all of the fat cats drinks cold, hmmm, possibly. It's your guess.
I might be wrong but all those seagoing vessels require huge amounts of cooling water don't they? Have you seen the USAF nuclear tunnel borer? it cools by melting rock into glass. They didn't build it to light cigarettes with. They must have intended to dig at least one Air Force tunnel, and if we have a tunnel system that they want to keep secret it needs it's own dedicated power, and if they have a tunnel system this LFTR technology which WAS ALSO developed by the Air Force would be the absolute perfect power source for an underground complex. . . . it's two puzzle pieces that fit together like they belong together, yes I'm making the jump in my mind suggesting they are already using this technology secretly (we all know they have secrets, the U2, the SR-71 and the Stealth fighter are 3 examples of secrets the Air Force kept for years, it's not that far of a leap to assume they have an efficient power source supplying whatever activities they tunneled underground for, and LFTR Reactors are already R&D'd BY The United States Air Force, I bet you, it's only an educated guess, but I bet you they are using this reactor technology underground in their mysterious tunnels)
Oh and as far as what they do there in the tunnels? I can only guess, it's complete secrecy, All I know is they developed the nuclear borer for some reason several decades ago. The rest just happens to make sense when you look at it all as a package
He’s a great guy. And you can tell when someone is so educated and honest that he has no need to bullshit you. He just knows what’s right. What makes sense. And he can prove it. I hope he’s recognized soon. What we could do with more unlimited amounts of power. Just think of it.
So can someone bring this topic up in a public debate among the candidates for president of the united states and I want to vote for the one that will fund building a LFTR.
+Jr Blake The problem is mentioned in the video. The regulators have no knowledge of the technology. It's not even taught to nuclear engineers. The project was scrapped a long time ago for political reasons, and it was forgotten.
Political reasons including threatening the entire fossil fuel industry and all invested in it, along with the MUCH less capable and efficient solid fuel reactor technology’s entrenched base... Highly disruptive... especially scaled small and localized
Such a wonderfully articulated and measured presentation, starting from scratch and building up on it with excitement. Add to that the smartness and genius of Kirk Sorensen. Loved it!
At 78 minutes Kirk mentioned that water has the problem of dissociating hydrogen and oxygen. Has anyone discussed a reactor based on this principle? Burning or fuel cell recombination of a substance separated by exposure to radioactive decay?
Every now and then i watch a video on you tube that i just really enjoyed, im not even slightly linked to anything to do with this and i just loved it thanks
Kirk's diagram for the BWR should show the air gap at the top of the pressurizer. It is intended to act as a shock absorber against a water hammer. One of the root causes of the Three Mile Island meltdown was that the techs had been given mantras rather than real teaching. One of those mantras was "never let the pressurizer go solid". So when things started to go wrong, they looked at the water in the pressurizer (actually forced up it by steam) and... they turned off the coolant pumps. They weren't actually taught a lot about what went on in the reactor, as far as I know. I live in the UK, so I have only read about this. Please correct me if I have it wrong.
On the magnetic pumping scheme at the end I'd like to mention they have been using magnetic flux to pump molten solder for several decades. They use triacs to adjust the volume of solder pumped through the throat of the machine; if it works for molten solder it woud probably work for anything..
I'm trying to to tell people about this and send them here. I hope some of them come and have there mind blown like mine was. I'm studying chemistry as much as possible because I want to be a part of this.
I remember watching this video several years ago and thinking how brilliant this was but feeling frustrated that the people in power don’t have intelligence, guts, and foresight to see the genius of this. I love that now I see a bunch of videos about Thorium reactors and that it has traction. Please, please, please tell me they made you a part of this and you are involved in these projects!
Kirk, it's too late this cycle, but I want to vote for you in the presidential election in 2020. You are forward thinking with a very good grasp on what's important for the future of both the United States and all of humanity. You have a drive and enthusiasm to benefit mankind, and most importantly you're not a political insider. This may be the foothold you need to see the LFTR reactor technology developed, revolutionizing modern society like we both know it will. You have a solid fan base already who I'm certain will lobby on your behalf and I know every person in the country is ready to bring someone into the system from the outside that we can believe in. The democrats don't believe much in Hillary and the Republicans aren't sold on Trump, and yet that's the scope of our choices this term. You could save us Kirk, I think you have everything it takes to change the world. . . . .
2:25:25 Kirk I have 10 acres in Northern Nevada to contribute to the project. Let me know if you need more land or can discuss site selection criteria. Thanks for all you do!
This video is about the best all round presentation of anything remotely scientific that I have had the pleasure to stumble upon. I was a tech teacher and would gladly have promoted this by making a minions edition. You have rekindled my belief and conviction. Thank you thank you.....I have been a thorium fan for years just hoping the messiah cometh.....
So many new ideas, Thank you so much for posting this, this is the coolest thing I've learned about since the concept of nuclear energy was explained to me!
My first concern about the EM pump was when he mentioned the need for ceramic insulators. The LFTR loop would have to experience changes in temperature of well over 800C, which (due to thermal expansion/contraction of the Hastaloy N) would make it very difficult to ensure the ceramic stays sealed at all different temperatures due to it's much lower coefficient of thermal expansion. This is not to say this limitation could not be overcome, but it was just my first concern when hearing that.
we should be using these systems right now! I'm glad Kirk is speaking up about it, before it dies out and becomes lost important knowledge. In my opinion this could solve our energy and pollution issues all in one. The reactors are safe enough to potentially power cars, homes or long trip space travel. I think it's at least worth taking a second glance, at the apparently 1960's tech.
1:15:00 - There are some weldments, but we try to reduce the amount of weldments - radiation damages the weldmetal and the heat affected zone. Most important that the critical zone should have as less weldments as possible. Biggest problem is the void swelling and ageing. An another problem is the primary water stress corrosion. In a reactor we need elevated pressure. This pressure results stress in any structural element, and unfortunatelly, the structural elements (means here: austentic cladding on the reactor wall) are susceptible. After several years in operation this cladding will be damaged and the colling water - which contains boric acid has a passage to the pressure holding reactor wall. The reactor wall is not resistant against boric acid and we have a serious problem with integrity. Problem with high temperature applications is the regulation. In ASME BPVC is the temperature limitied, there are two limitations, one for ferritic steels and one for austenitic steels. The long term creep properties at elevated temperatures with the new environment are missing. As a welding/material and mechanical engineer, I'm a huge fan of LFT reactors. There is no "clean energy" without the renaissance of nuclear industry. My problem is Europe's been far away from this road. US and CAN intent to go further, which means, I'd consider a relocation...
You can't fake your way through this type of presentation. Especially with a seemingly educated crowd in attendance. You either know your subject material or you don't. Kirk clearly knows his stuff!
@OptimusGonzoo I've only been at the space a couple times since and don't think it is an active project. I personally have been putting all my effort into editing LFTR footage (at expense of Protospace time) so haven't helped out.
This what's all about, few guts in the basement enjoying talking about important ideas for the future for everyone and would have love to be there too. Big ideas were borne by just a few smart and intelligent peoples with little money, but with big drive. I did wrote in other videos about how to get funding for research and development and the way to get what's the need it is to create public bonds, and I do believe that the more peoples hear about this and understand that the word NUCLEAR is not bad at all and will willingly by the bonds. Just the same as many projects like the Hoover dam and th St. Francisco bridge. We must get peoples to know about this and to get them to open their eyes and minds.
I don't think it was acceptable Diablo's backup power generator was underwater. Whatever the Japanese nuclear safety culture may be today, in the 2000s it wasn't what it should have been. ruclips.net/video/8Pyq8kCeiYs/видео.html
Great stuff people. My two cents: if it is already being built in India/China (or if it's actually already working as KarthikSoun mentioned) the focus should be on getting the knowledge about the implementation from them, right? May sound naive, but if possible, it seems much simpler and efficient to hire an experienced Indian engineer (or many) who has already worked on the construction of one of these, than trial/error several times before a working solution is found.
You rock. Keep up with the good work. I know this tech is coming, I just wish the USA was leading rather than following. I understand they are designing them and building them in India, China, and Russia.
@FranciscoSanmarco The Indian project is using solid fuel so it is a different type of Thorium reactor. The Chinese ARE likely building exactly what we need here, but their stated goal is to secure the IP / patents on as much of the surrounding technology as possible. Right now the problem isn't so much lack of knowledge/skill as lack of funds/action.
floating ocean sounds cool.. but what if you have a hurricane where the temp at the surface of the water is now cooler? did he have a game plan like storing the energy ahead of time? just curious
GordonMcDowell and Chelsea Pratchett... I appreciate you posting these and getting the word out. LFTR needs to be popularized if we are going to get as many forms of sustainable energy investigated as possible. But, how many times have you guys posted re-hashed videos of these same talks to youtube? I will probably end up listening to all over the spring and upcoming summer...but you guys posted a lot..................
So true about the green movement pushing humanity to energy poverty. The basic economic law is that money is always proportional to the energy you have access to. Which is why LFTR is so vital to the future of humanity.
I know this would be expensive, but if you used a combined Fusion / Fission reactor could you could skip the need for reprocessing and just burn the fuel down until it's not radioactive anymore, because the ARC fusion reactor design actually uses the same Flibe, because you need lithium to turn to tritium to fuel your fission reactor. The problem is however with you don't actually get net electrical energy out, but as a neutron source from electricity, it's actually very energy efficient compared to other means.
I'm not a scholar of nuclear physics, but I can grasp most of what is being said. And this all sounds logical. And I think that this might be the direction to go if we want a sustainable future. One thing I always miss(or maybe I just wasnt paying enough attention) about these videos, and I've watched a few of them now, is, that there is no real explaining of what the nuclear waste would be from a LFTR. Because of the negative media that has surrounded nuclear power since the start,that is one big question to answer when it comes to persuade the public. I dont read so much blogs or forums so... Anyone?
Kirk why doesn't anyone know about this? Seriously, I'm lost why they're thinking they're great creating "new" hydrogen reactors. Am I crazy or were these already designed by scientists years ago? I love you!! You're a true scientist of this beautiful Universe. Thank you so much, this is the third time I'm watching this video because it's that difficult for my mind to comprehend the use of Uranium reactors in this world. Did you know every piece of iron we've created since the explosion of the first nuclear bomb can't be used for radiosensitive tools?
You know what, i know this is 6 months old and probably won't be read, but i feel like actually doing a reply here since i think it can help. The thorium reactor was first developed at the same time where the idea of civilian nuclear power was taking shape, lead primarely by the US, UK and France. All 3 having the same goal and vision overall. WW2 had ended in the spectacular detonation of the only two nuclear bombs ever used in active combat. The allies had become ascendant to the forefront of world power thanks to this and their victory in the war. But, while america was bragging about how they could anihiate anyone that would threaten them, this was simply a ploy. See, in reality the US was out of bombs. They had manufactured 3 cores in the manhattan project. They only had a single core (the famous deamon core) left in inventory they could turn into a bomb. If the military was to hold to their boast, they needed a LOT more material to make into bombs. Both the UK and France also wanted bombs the exact same way, and back on the other side of the not yet existing iron curtain, the soviets were doing the exact same. This was when the PWR idea came into being, a reactor that would use enriched uranium to generate electricity. Both the refining process and the used fuel would contain the materials needed to create weapons, while the politicians would get their civilian program they could exploit to divert funds to their state (and often their own pockets). This was what was being pushed forward. About the same time as that idea was taking shape, the idea of a better reactor, a breeder reactor, was aslo taking shape. This is where the molten salt throrium reactor was made. It had to compete with the fast uranium reactor EBR-1 which was a fast regime breeder. The governement ended up chosing the fast breeder plutonium reactor once again because it would create weapon grade material, while the funding for the MSRE was cut entirely. Despite this the MSRE project kept going and sucessfully proved the forward thinking and insanely efficent design worked as hoped... but then it faded into obscurity. Lets be clear here, if it wasn't for the MSRE documents being unearthed in some unassuming record back and published online, the thorium reactor would have actually been forgotten by history, since politicans don't know about it, the public does not know ANYTHING about it, and even nuclear scientists aren't being taught about it at all.
@@mobiuscoreindustries six months isn't too long since the issue is on-going for 50 years, thank you for the reply. You're so right, it's all about the money nothing about safe, cheap energy generation. I'm guessing the influence of the coal, oil and gas industries also played a part to bury the LSR. Albeit, Norway & Indonesia are currently building and testing LSRs and will soon be leading the way to the somewhat illusive CO2, plastic free energy. Not to mention the safety factors. I'm very surprised China & France have yet to join the band wagon but I do think the beautiful intelligence of France isn't far behind or are involved with the Norwegian project.
@@CompelledFungus Well, there is multiple reasons for why countries are yet to actually convert to MSRs. In Europe, you have the towering influence of chernobyl, because this is where most of the damage was done, and where most of the FUD was also spread. This was the "we almost lost detroit" syndrome cranked to a thousand. For years the only thing that could be heard about nuclear power was that it was a nuclear bomb in every complex just waiting to explode, not understanding in the slightest why that could physically not happen. With the fall of the USSR, Russia was quick to start promoting its cheap gas exports to the european union, and saying "you know, if you could tone down your nuclear, you would need more gas. You take public spending, buy our gas, we give your company value, so your shares ride high and you make a monster profit". The public hated nuclear, no one cared about fossil energy, so they just built more peaker plants, and things kept going great. When the idea of sustainable developpement was put forward as a nessesity, Nuclear was once again shoved forcefully into the picture by scientists. To them, the renewables were still unfinished, not close to good enough as baseload power. Nuclear was there, and it could assume that role, at least until a better reactor or better renewables were developed, but it was possible right now and in quantity. Then fukushima happened, and once again public FUD shoved nuclear right down the drain again. Remember this failure of the operator of the plant, squarely aimed at management, garnered more attention than the nation wide tsunami that caused it, and NONE of the public understanding blamed the denial of the engineering report. This is also when the same idea of sustainable developement started getting warped. After denying it for decades, politicians started actually thinking on it. Not as somehow understanding that this was something bigger than them, far from it. They simply isolated a tiny fraction of what the scientists were explaining, the parts they could use: - The world is headed for an imminent catastrophy, but still far enough to be outside their political career. - People have started to understand that it is a problem, but don't know quite why. They know CO2 is bad, but don't seek to understand the energy, resource or environemental shift that is the real issue behind it - people want stuff that looks green, don't seem to be interested in something being actually clean or sustainable - due to not understanding the energy chain, *the public is willing to advocate for the immediate destruction of anything they see as a problem*, as long as they are aware of it This last part is what got them on the hook, because with good enough manipulation, they can now create demand where there was none. People don't care how their electricity is made, most of them don't know what an electron is. They don't go look further from the wall plug. However they will get angry if you point at a building and say "that building is bad" cause they don't understand that the thing this building makes is what is currently giving them cheap electricity. This is what happened in germany. Under the guise of cheap energy transition, germany destroyed and DEMOLISHED their nuclear park before actually having finished any of their replacement, causing the demand for peaker plants to skyrocket, which of course was the objective all along. Right now, the one country in europe to have done a green transition is the one that pollutes the most. France is currently suffering from the same issues despite being world leaders in nuclear energy. Reactors across the country are being turned off, get denied maintenance or overhauls, get put on hold forever, and people are being bashed in at school that nuclear energy is not sustainable, has a gigantic waste problem (despite France actually reprocessing and using their waste) and that wind and solar are the only way forward (spoiler, both wind and solar is highly unstable in France leading to low production overall) in a bid to create more gas plants and make France more influencable via energy dependence. The only way this can be curved is always the same way: Lead by example. Everyone will bash a liquid thorium reactor for the first decade of building and operations. But after that it will get harder to deny if its working great. What we need is a sort of "nuclear musk", someone with an independent mind, detached from consolidated lobbies, with the mind to hatch this gambit, and the means to power through decades of abusive constant FUD and pushback from both the public and governements to make the thing fail.
@2:29 Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard designed a refrigerator that used this type of electromagnetic pumping. It wasn't a commercial success because it howled like a banshee. I think I figured this out. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. So the reaction caused serious vibration which converts into sound. The solution is to use two and have them vibrate in opposite directions. It's kind of like the way BMW motorcycles are balanced. I hope this helps...
Hotter reactors thinner walls not a good idea. We scrapped these designs under the direction of Admiral Rickover in the 60's. You want more history start here www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/advanced-search-view
Kirk is to optimistic about the possible revenue of the side products produced. His assumption is that the prices will remain at the current level, with a highly limited supply. Yes, for the first few reactors that are built - this assumption is likely to be true, but as more reactors are built the supply will increase and prices will drop. Hopefully the price of the reactor will drop even faster as more LFTRs are built, when economy of scale does its magic - so this minor oversight shouldn't matter in any practical way. But I really hate when Greenpeace et al lies, misrepresents and are generally behaving as ignoramuses as soon as they open their mouth to "discuss" nuclear power. Everyone in the pro nuclear camp should triple check every fact, always be intellectually honest and also never misrepresent - instead make sure to steelman the oppositions views. If we can't argue our case using truth, we are likely wrong and we should then change our minds. But I must end by saying that the more I learn, the better nuclear power seems to be compared to the alternatives.
Super interesting presentation.... BUT!!! Can you make a much shorter version of this one, just highlighting the "Pro Thorium" points and leaving out the "filler"?? Many, many people simply cannot (or will not) watch a video this long. If you can break this elephant into more bite-sized pieces, I think it would be a great idea. This is incredibly important information.
1: 52:40 the draining plug is a good idea with the tanks but can there be an heat exchanger around the tank for "wasteheat" which can be used for heating homes
We were steered away from liquid fueled atmospheric pressure reactors behind the scenes, in significant part because the fossil fuel invested system did NOT want to have to compete with any form of nuclear that achieved better than 1% fuel usage efficiency, in a fuel that costs more to mine and refine than platinum. We need to crowd-fund this... if we as a society were able to donate a quarter billion dollars to a wasted race of a single political candidate many Americans found inspiring... We can CERTAINLY do THIS... I think anyone who truly understands the safety and efficiency potential of this particular form of abandoned nuclear technology, ought to be willing to plunk down $5 to $30, and push our regulatory agencies to fast track it. Perhaps developed as an open source non-profit, that could develop the tech and sell at reasonable cost and properly scaled to our local municipalities.
@Vailhem Why not? You can do whatever you want with that waste heat. Desalinating water is one thing, running a chemical facility to produce fertilizer is also an option. CHP would work great since LFTRs can be made small and modular enough to be fit in densely populated areas to provide local power, which is great for minimizing grid loss and, for CHP systems, to minimize heat energy loss through distance.
Also with regards to the proposed Induction pump running on A/C, seems as though the Serbs have you beaten to the punch: www.andrijar.com/pump/index.htm The webpage specifically lists a potential application towards a seal-less, moving parts-less pumping of molten salts in "novel thorium reactors". If you can get a hold of some Inconel piping (hard), some copper wire (easy), and some electromagnets (easy) you can probably get this up and running for testing. I would recommend that FLIBE get in touch with this gentleman for some idea sharing.
There are no transistors that can take the interchange of current to do one-tenth of the output at 1,240.0 Watts. The closest transistors for the elevator controller units at 500 watts max dissipation but common uses at 100 watts to 125 watts each this is the safe limits of use 500% down to 400% for complete switching but there is some research showing that sat core transformers at partial switching these for two to three times. this is still 200 watts to 250 watts. But the parallel of these units required matching of the parts but the more unit add up the power values in both costs and part rejections.
The main problem is that engineers aren't the best communicators. The real trick is for the engineers and scientists with the LFTR is to learn to effectively reach out to the best communicators like Kirk who have connections to the rest of the planet.
1:43:00 Yup. The young pups with the burr. Let's get this done! I've been researching this for years already, and I understand the technology and am looking into how to begin developing this, and I'm not even in college yet. I have a lot to finish learning and to understand, but seriously, most of this stuff is self-taught, too. We have to do it, or nobody will.
12 years later and this still gets me excited…. I wish we had a president who would get the NRC in a room and just tell them “make this happen. If you fail, global warming will destroy this planet. I’ll make sure you get all the resources you need - this is one of my top priorities.” That’s my dream headcanon and I know it won’t happen, but goddamn do we as the public need a better sense of urgency regarding building more nuclear power, even just today’s conventional. I know NIMBYs are everywhere but I for one would be proud to have a reactor within driving distance of my city.
There is no question that this technology will be used in the future. I just hope we are, as a species, intelligent enough to get there before we destroy our beautiful natural world. Nuclear energy needs better marketing. That is the best way to reach the average person. Hell, one super bowl commercial in between Doritos ads would reach more people than Kirk has done in a decade!
17:30 finds out about MSRs and thorium 1:05:00 temperature in MSRS relative to PWRs. Applications to water desalination 1:25:00 generator in a PWR 1:28:00 geothermal energy driveb by fission of thorium and uranium
Gord here! I finance travel and video capture and editing with a Patreon campaign. www.patreon.com/thorium ...and if you pledge only $1/year that's still a really big deal to me. I need both social reinforcement (many PEOPLE supporting) as well as actual financial support. So whichever you might have to offer, please do pledge something.
Quite possibly, for 2020, I won't travel to a single conference. We will see. But I would be perfectly happy working with what I've shot to this point. Frankly, the most important asset I'm missing is not something I could ever get myself... that is laboratory footage. And at this point I expect the footage exists already, shot by everyone doing MSR work. Getting that is a matter of creating a communications piece stakeholders are comfortable letting me slot lab footage into. So if I'm spending any Gord-hours I can simply writing and editing, then I'm not-at-all feeling robbed by Covid-19.
My communications with ORNL have been quite positive, and in regards to pieces like this. It is crazy-slow, but good. The very best value I could offer MSR advocates is to help ORNL create and release presentations and interviews like this themselves. They do already create educational and promotional pieces, but not at the volume nor specificity we want. ORNL MSRW went from zero public videos from ORNL MSRW 2017, to 3 from ORNL MSRW 2018, and it looks like we will (eventually) get 9 from ORNL MSRW 2019. Maybe 2020 won't happen, but they're aware that MORE is what MSR advocates want. ORNL sure don't need me to do this, except to get the ball rolling and demonstrate demand. If ORNL (and all National Labs doing nuclear R&D) did this themselves, I could gladly become irrelevant to the creation of these basic video assets and focus more on narrative. It is the narrative videos which tend to have a bigger impact. But I can't create narrative pieces without interviews such as these. (And lab footage.)
So, again, if you can do Patreon then head here... www.patreon.com/thorium ... if that doesn't work for you please let me know what mechanism does. Thanks for your support, -Gord
Hi Gordon, thanks for all the work you're doing, it's important. I have a question...Kirk said he would need about 1b dollars to get this reactor built and running. I know this sounds crazy but...wouldnt it be possible to raise this money through kickstarter? By that I mean, is this a project that kickstarter would allow within their guidelines? I could write to them but I am assuming you would know the answer. Thanks!
@@machfive5871 I'm sure guidelines would allow it. Problem is there's no incentive for people to contribute other than everyone winning once reactor is built. Kickstarter is really most effective when people get something in return for their contribution. And since funding reactor development is so expensive, this would not be doable with casual $5 donations, it would require larger quantities of support. Larger the amounts, more important equity becomes. Moltex did conduct an equity-based crowdfunding round. (I will have to let you Google that as I don't know best summary to show you.) So possibly Flibe could do that. Basically, yes has been considered. But I don't think it would be successful without some new twist on conventional crowdfunding model. Kirk's 2020 opinion on the matter, I do not know.
Thanks Gordon, yes I understand, I'm familiar with kickstarter and I wondered "what could we give them in return" apart from the benefits to humanity of having the reactor built. But hopefully as more and more people become aware of it who knows...200 million people donating 5 dollars each could be possible, some day. Anything is possible! it would be great if Kirk could be interviewed by folks like Brian Rose from London Real, Russel brand, Joe Rogan...
Well, I have only just found out about LFTR so I still have much to learn on the subject but I'm both fascinated about it and amazed at how so very few people know about this so please keep up the good work. Awareness is crucial.
@@gordonmcdowell How about asking Elon Musk? Electric cars and trucks are much more sexy with cheap, pollution free electricity. He also has enough money to help and a platform to speak from. He just put America back into manned space flight. I want to help either way.
Please connect me with kirk sorensen. mark_henne@yahoo.com nine o eight eight eight seven five five eight five garage six hill st oxford new jersey o seven eight six three; may have several things that are needed for kirk's projects. large quantities of th, mines where u two thirty eight is available, some already extracted, a strait three kilometer tunnel, abandoned iron ore crushing and smelting facilities of colonial times. water ponds and rivers connected above and below ground. oblivious tiny government with no comprehension of potential of existing resources. quickly i may be evicted from my home this week.
I just love this guy. Best attitude, super smart and humble about it.
Solar cells need tellurium.
This is the man that should have been elon musk
@@SleekMinister there are diffrente types of solar panels. But at this point solar isnt researched enough to work
Kirk. You've done a stalwart job selling this. I commend you for never giving up. It's now 2019. TPTB have finally listened.
It's time for you to concentrate on your Phd. Meanwhile, congratulations on receiving the GAIN voucher and the new collaboration with Oak Ridge. That's a heck of an accomplishment. The world needs you and the LTSWR.
I love re-watching this video. Kirk Sorensen is more relaxed in this type of gathering compared to his Ted talks. A must watch.
Kirk will one day be recognized as a hero, that precipitated the next leap in human civilization.
I think he will be to late. Solar is gearing up to become the technology to cary the revolution.
@@baronvonlimbourgh1716 Sorry, that is a very simplistic view. What you have is an emotional investment in simply grasped understandings. Solar is just too weak and intermittent to serve us well.
@@winomaster nope, decentralised solar is allready taking over. And with personal storing solutions now becomming available and decreasing in price fast it will be what will be adopted by the public.
A modest one time investment in a personal instalation can provide a household with all the energy it needs allready for at least 30 years, including personal transportation, on most places on the globe.
Adoption is growing exponentionally as prices come down. Businesses are the biggest adopters of solar here, retailers, farm stables, factories and anything else with huge flat roofs. They are all being loaded with solar panels because they save money. And in some cases generate income.
It is economics what drives this and with falling prices and increased efficienty these economic forces will only become stronger over time.
@@baronvonlimbourgh1716 Solar power can't cover the energy need by several orders of magnitude, if we don't use nuclear instead of coal pretty soon, all will be lost. Solar panels create a lot of carbon release, you have to mine the metal and minerals with coal power, the fabrication itself takes a lot of energy. You have to run a solar panel for years and years before you make up the energy consumption during production.
@@hjembrentkent6181 but there is no mining with nuclear right lol.
Anyway, nuclear is stupidly inefficient and thorium is to late for the west.
The Thor-5B was the first fissile Plutonium-Thorium reactor used on a space probe. I was the Physicist in charge of that project.
What was the probe for?
I've never seen this LFTR video and its been out since 2011. Kirk is a gift to mankind.
Kirk Sorensen needs to get on the Joe Rogan podcast. Like for serious. Early in this talk when he's talking about floating colonies, I'm instantly reminded of the Seasteading Institute who are doing just that. Joe Quirk from Seasteading got on Rogan; I don't see a damn reason why Kirk couldn't. And that would spread the message about LFTR like crazy.
Great idea.
Jor rogan would shut him down. Not to be rude but joe rogan shuts down any form of science.
Why do people think so little of this "This Guy" (Kirk) and keep recommending Joe Rogan and his lame Ivermectin Talk Show!?
@@VulcanData84 Because it's the biggest talk show in the history of the human species. It is literally THE biggest audience. Also you'll observe that I made this comment long before you or anyone else ever heard of Covid-19, let alone the Ivermectin controversy.
I remember when Kirk Sorensen used to work with Nasa. As a space buff I've been frequently using the formula he posted on his blog in 2010 for estimating the maximum payload of a rocket. Nice to see what he moved on to work with.
This guy should get hosted on Joe Rogan podcast
I was thinking the same thing. Some of the recent participants aren't really that interesting. Kirk is so interesting.
Andrew Sipos The thing is, how can we make that happen?
Is there a way to suggest or petition to Rogan's people to look it up?
Change.org is definitely not my first go to.
@@attaque71 No idea. As far as I can see, his show is more privately done. I don't see an official webpage. I think he and his buddies just know people that are famous and can reach out to get them on their show. Kirk, as great as he is, doesn't have that access I guess.
lol I actually already requested an interview under his name a few months back.
@@attaque71 I think your best bet would be to contact one of Rogan's lower level guests/buddies who're likely to actually respond to you, and then have them suggest Kirk to him. Several of his first time non-famous guests were suggestions by his guest friends (i.e. Sam Harris suggested Andrew Yang).
I could listen to this guy all day.
honkler!
Thanks for publishing this Gordon, once you understand the technology (only some what in my case) you're hooked.
cyril: I told Gordon the other day that tritium was a problem, because once you make it it gets everywhere. I did not realize the lithium source was not in the hot section. The element conjugation can only happen in high neutron environs, and the lithium is in the secondary intercooler loop to the turbine section, or you would have plating out of the noble metals. High pressure co2 for the turbine driver is by far the best turbine driver, making the turbine much smaller.
What an awesome communicator! This video is fantastic.
I've thought about this for a long time and I think this is my favorite RUclips video of all time
In India we already have a 300MW Thorium based reactor, its the world first working Thorium reactor!
gordonmcdowell Gordon, this is one of my FAVORITE videos ever. I've watched it many times. But I always skip over the first 5 minutes.
I love your work, but I think you might want to revisit the notion of a "teaser". There is no such thing as a five-minute teaser. It seems like you're trying to cram the whole argument into the teaser, and it weakens the impact... it's overload... it's mostly incomprehensible to someone who isn't familiar with the issues and the lingo.
Just "tease" with the first anectdote about the "Aircraft Reactor Experiment" and then jump to the opening credits... Intersperse the credits with more Kirk if you want, but otherwise just get us ASAP into Kirk's engaging delivery. That's what really "sells" this event.
My $0.02... FWIW... ;-)
Best Wishes, and keep up the great work!
Recently I did a class presentation in college on Thorium based energy, and since about two weeks ago I have become obsessed with it ! The more I research thorium and the LFTR reactor the better it sounds, as a person with a passion for science I'm compelled to raise the question: what are the drawbacks and limitations ? I really do want to believe this is as amazing as these sources are saying it is, especially when you consider the big picture this is sounding like LFTR reactors will bring about a revolution like that of steam engines or AC current. If anyone can provide why these thorium reactors aren't as hyped up as they appear to be I'd greatly appreciate it !
+James Joe Oh Joe, how I wish, God knows how I am all for the day when we Americans can celebrate the start-up of this country's second Liquid Fluoride Thorium molten salt reactor but one only has to think about those pesky NRC obstacles(regulations and the communist bastards that have been placed there) but mainly the highly radioactive particle(tritium)capturing(untested)capabilities, big dollar nuclear investor losses versus pipedream returns(remember WPPSS and power so cheap you won't be able to meter it. Lol)plus the problem of 300 degree celsius nickel-alloy long term corrosives/temperature(metallurgical) stability in mechanical(valves/vessels/piping)operations and the God d@#$ lobbyists who promote fossil fuels depletion by funding both sides of the aisle in their favor for the next Corporate(Sock Puppet)President of the USA to veto thorium because is not a multinational conglomerate corporation, yet. plus we are no longer manufacturing jack squat in this country for the simple reason "they"want us debt slaves to be service oriented and let the Chins design-build everything that is left on the NWO agendas as stated...The new world order will be brought in on the backs of a great democracy...It is neither new nor will it be order. FDR...enough said???
The reason I believe the U.S. isn't pushing to develop LFTR technology is because I think they've been using it for decades to power secret bases off the public grid. It's not that I'm a conspiracy theorist either, we know secret bases exist, we know they need lots of standalone electric power that doesn't need a giant cooling resevoir, and one with a low fuel consumption rate would be ideal. I bet anyone a dollar (limit five people) they are using LFTR's in these bases. If they are they realize how revolutionary the technology is and how destabilizing it would be for the OPEC nations, hence they have stonewalled the public use of the technology.
Douglas Dobson and just what do "they" do at these secret bases that nobody knows about but do exist that require so much power that could not be furnished by a small nuclear reactor like on many of the vessels in the US Navel fleet remembering that the USS Nimitz is a floating city of 5000+ and is so powered up by, maybe all night long Illuminati poker games that need all that power so their ice machines can run non-stop to keep all of the fat cats drinks cold, hmmm, possibly. It's your guess.
I might be wrong but all those seagoing vessels require huge amounts of cooling water don't they? Have you seen the USAF nuclear tunnel borer? it cools by melting rock into glass. They didn't build it to light cigarettes with. They must have intended to dig at least one Air Force tunnel, and if we have a tunnel system that they want to keep secret it needs it's own dedicated power, and if they have a tunnel system this LFTR technology which WAS ALSO developed by the Air Force would be the absolute perfect power source for an underground complex. . . . it's two puzzle pieces that fit together like they belong together, yes I'm making the jump in my mind suggesting they are already using this technology secretly (we all know they have secrets, the U2, the SR-71 and the Stealth fighter are 3 examples of secrets the Air Force kept for years, it's not that far of a leap to assume they have an efficient power source supplying whatever activities they tunneled underground for, and LFTR Reactors are already R&D'd BY The United States Air Force, I bet you, it's only an educated guess, but I bet you they are using this reactor technology underground in their mysterious tunnels)
Oh and as far as what they do there in the tunnels? I can only guess, it's complete secrecy, All I know is they developed the nuclear borer for some reason several decades ago. The rest just happens to make sense when you look at it all as a package
This man MUST go on Coast to Coast for 4 hours soon! Shout this to the nation!
tomterahedrob he's got too much credibility for coast to coast
love this guy....
2021 and this still worth.
Cheers from Brazil.
I am grateful for kirk sorensen and the others that have continued to look at alternatives. Hope the work continues to verify there are better ways.
He’s a great guy. And you can tell when someone is so educated and honest that he has no need to bullshit you. He just knows what’s right. What makes sense.
And he can prove it. I hope he’s recognized soon. What we could do with more unlimited amounts of power. Just think of it.
So can someone bring this topic up in a public debate among the candidates for president of the united states and I want to vote for the one that will fund building a LFTR.
+Jr Blake The problem is mentioned in the video. The regulators have no knowledge of the technology. It's not even taught to nuclear engineers. The project was scrapped a long time ago for political reasons, and it was forgotten.
Political reasons including threatening the entire fossil fuel industry and all invested in it, along with the MUCH less capable and efficient solid fuel reactor technology’s entrenched base...
Highly disruptive... especially scaled small and localized
I'm with you man and ready. I bring up this whenever I can wherever I can
Best we can do is oil facility fires in subdivisions?... And fracking...🫠
Pretty sure the word BRILLIANT is very apt for Kirk Sorenson. DAMN!
Such a wonderfully articulated and measured presentation, starting from scratch and building up on it with excitement. Add to that the smartness and genius of Kirk Sorensen. Loved it!
Lets hope for humanity that Kirk is successful I wish him all the best for the future
I love this talk!!!! Simply amazing I’m all for this!!!!
At 78 minutes Kirk mentioned that water has the problem of dissociating hydrogen and oxygen. Has anyone discussed a reactor based on this principle? Burning or fuel cell recombination of a substance separated by exposure to radioactive decay?
I actually laughed out loud at the Godzilla part. Thank you so so much for this video, you’re an inspiration!
Every now and then i watch a video on you tube that i just really enjoyed, im not even slightly linked to anything to do with this and i just loved it thanks
This is one of my favorite videos. Excellent detail and very informative.
Kirk's diagram for the BWR should show the air gap at the top of the pressurizer. It is intended to act as a shock absorber against a water hammer. One of the root causes of the Three Mile Island meltdown was that the techs had been given mantras rather than real teaching. One of those mantras was "never let the pressurizer go solid". So when things started to go wrong, they looked at the water in the pressurizer (actually forced up it by steam) and... they turned off the coolant pumps. They weren't actually taught a lot about what went on in the reactor, as far as I know.
I live in the UK, so I have only read about this. Please correct me if I have it wrong.
On the magnetic pumping scheme at the end I'd like to mention they have been using magnetic flux to pump molten solder for several decades. They use triacs to adjust the volume of solder pumped through the throat of the machine; if it works for molten solder it woud probably work for anything..
The brainstorming session at the end of this video is really cool . This whole video is Gold! Well done Gordon in getting Kirk Sorensen up to Calgary
I'm trying to to tell people about this and send them here. I hope some of them come and have there mind blown like mine was. I'm studying chemistry as much as possible because I want to be a part of this.
I remember watching this video several years ago and thinking how brilliant this was but feeling frustrated that the people in power don’t have intelligence, guts, and foresight to see the genius of this. I love that now I see a bunch of videos about Thorium reactors and that it has traction. Please, please, please tell me they made you a part of this and you are involved in these projects!
Kirk, it's too late this cycle, but I want to vote for you in the presidential election in 2020. You are forward thinking with a very good grasp on what's important for the future of both the United States and all of humanity. You have a drive and enthusiasm to benefit mankind, and most importantly you're not a political insider. This may be the foothold you need to see the LFTR reactor technology developed, revolutionizing modern society like we both know it will. You have a solid fan base already who I'm certain will lobby on your behalf and I know every person in the country is ready to bring someone into the system from the outside that we can believe in. The democrats don't believe much in Hillary and the Republicans aren't sold on Trump, and yet that's the scope of our choices this term. You could save us Kirk, I think you have everything it takes to change the world. . . . .
yeah but he'd be the only politician in Washington doing his best for Humanity. . . .
We need this stuff..
2:25:25 Kirk I have 10 acres in Northern Nevada to contribute to the project. Let me know if you need more land or can discuss site selection criteria. Thanks for all you do!
This video is about the best all round presentation of anything remotely scientific that I have had the pleasure to stumble upon. I was a tech teacher and would gladly have promoted this by making a minions edition. You have rekindled my belief and conviction. Thank you thank you.....I have been a thorium fan for years just hoping the messiah cometh.....
I fee like Kirk discovered some sort of "unearth arcana". Facinating!!!
One of the greatest videos ever put on RUclips!
So many new ideas, Thank you so much for posting this, this is the coolest thing I've learned about since the concept of nuclear energy was explained to me!
My first concern about the EM pump was when he mentioned the need for ceramic insulators. The LFTR loop would have to experience changes in temperature of well over 800C, which (due to thermal expansion/contraction of the Hastaloy N) would make it very difficult to ensure the ceramic stays sealed at all different temperatures due to it's much lower coefficient of thermal expansion.
This is not to say this limitation could not be overcome, but it was just my first concern when hearing that.
we should be using these systems right now!
I'm glad Kirk is speaking up about it, before it dies out and becomes lost important knowledge.
In my opinion this could solve our energy and pollution issues all in one. The reactors are safe enough to potentially power cars, homes or long trip space travel. I think it's at least worth taking a second glance, at the apparently 1960's tech.
1:15:00 - There are some weldments, but we try to reduce the amount of weldments - radiation damages the weldmetal and the heat affected zone. Most important that the critical zone should have as less weldments as possible. Biggest problem is the void swelling and ageing.
An another problem is the primary water stress corrosion. In a reactor we need elevated pressure. This pressure results stress in any structural element, and unfortunatelly, the structural elements (means here: austentic cladding on the reactor wall) are susceptible. After several years in operation this cladding will be damaged and the colling water - which contains boric acid has a passage to the pressure holding reactor wall. The reactor wall is not resistant against boric acid and we have a serious problem with integrity.
Problem with high temperature applications is the regulation. In ASME BPVC is the temperature limitied, there are two limitations, one for ferritic steels and one for austenitic steels. The long term creep properties at elevated temperatures with the new environment are missing.
As a welding/material and mechanical engineer, I'm a huge fan of LFT reactors. There is no "clean energy" without the renaissance of nuclear industry. My problem is Europe's been far away from this road. US and CAN intent to go further, which means, I'd consider a relocation...
You can't fake your way through this type of presentation. Especially with a seemingly educated crowd in attendance. You either know your subject material or you don't. Kirk clearly knows his stuff!
I love this guy and he's way ahead of most of you.
@OptimusGonzoo I've only been at the space a couple times since and don't think it is an active project. I personally have been putting all my effort into editing LFTR footage (at expense of Protospace time) so haven't helped out.
This what's all about, few guts in the basement enjoying talking about important ideas for the future for everyone
and would have love to be there too.
Big ideas were borne by just a few smart and intelligent peoples with little money, but with big drive.
I did wrote in other videos about how to get funding for research and development and the way to get what's the
need it is to create public bonds, and I do believe that the more peoples hear about this and understand that the
word NUCLEAR is not bad at all and will willingly by the bonds.
Just the same as many projects like the Hoover dam and th St. Francisco bridge.
We must get peoples to know about this and to get them to open their eyes and minds.
This is the foundational video that tells all the basics.
By the simple fact that the Japanese reactor survived such a large earthquake speaks of the quality of Japanese engineering and construction.
I don't think it was acceptable Diablo's backup power generator was underwater. Whatever the Japanese nuclear safety culture may be today, in the 2000s it wasn't what it should have been. ruclips.net/video/8Pyq8kCeiYs/видео.html
This is the technology that we need to be developing in stead of solid fueled nuclear reactors.
Doctor Kirk Sorensen is the best!
He looks like white version of Jordan Peele. His mannerisms are similar and even the humor is on point. I think these guys share a common ancestor.
Exactly my thoughts!
Great stuff people. My two cents: if it is already being built in India/China (or if it's actually already working as KarthikSoun mentioned) the focus should be on getting the knowledge about the implementation from them, right? May sound naive, but if possible, it seems much simpler and efficient to hire an experienced Indian engineer (or many) who has already worked on the construction of one of these, than trial/error several times before a working solution is found.
Kirk! Right now, change your name from Sorensen to Thoriumson!
You rock. Keep up with the good work. I know this tech is coming, I just wish the USA was leading rather than following. I understand they are designing them and building them in India, China, and Russia.
Who else thinks this is still the best, most comprehensive explanation for why we need thorium-uranium breeder MSRs?
I work in the petroleum industry and this is really cool I would love to be part of this concept I really like this technology love the enthusiasm
Can I make a recommendation: Instead of one freeze plug, lets have 3 plugs. What would happen if a pipe broke, got bent, etc.
Sitting here playing video games and listening to this very interesting video.
@FranciscoSanmarco The Indian project is using solid fuel so it is a different type of Thorium reactor. The Chinese ARE likely building exactly what we need here, but their stated goal is to secure the IP / patents on as much of the surrounding technology as possible. Right now the problem isn't so much lack of knowledge/skill as lack of funds/action.
floating ocean sounds cool.. but what if you have a hurricane where the temp at the surface of the water is now cooler? did he have a game plan like storing the energy ahead of time? just curious
GordonMcDowell and Chelsea Pratchett...
I appreciate you posting these and getting the word out. LFTR needs to be popularized if we are going to get as many forms of sustainable energy investigated as possible. But, how many times have you guys posted re-hashed videos of these same talks to youtube? I will probably end up listening to all over the spring and upcoming summer...but you guys posted a lot..................
how can I contact this guy or were ? i can work on the pump and other electrical and mechanical stuff
That icon is very cool.
kirk Sorensen is the man, I would want on my team
Hey Sorensen, someday 'they' will build a statue to you. Never give up.
Would Wigner energy be a problem in the graphite moderator for LIFTR ?
So true about the green movement pushing humanity to energy poverty. The basic economic law is that money is always proportional to the energy you have access to. Which is why LFTR is so vital to the future of humanity.
I know this would be expensive, but if you used a combined Fusion / Fission reactor could you could skip the need for reprocessing and just burn the fuel down until it's not radioactive anymore, because the ARC fusion reactor design actually uses the same Flibe, because you need lithium to turn to tritium to fuel your fission reactor. The problem is however with you don't actually get net electrical energy out, but as a neutron source from electricity, it's actually very energy efficient compared to other means.
Arguably the most important issue of our time.
Completely agree
Thanks guys!
I'm not a scholar of nuclear physics, but I can grasp most of what is being said. And this all sounds logical. And I think that this might be the direction to go if we want a sustainable future. One thing I always miss(or maybe I just wasnt paying enough attention) about these videos, and I've watched a few of them now, is, that there is no real explaining of what the nuclear waste would be from a LFTR. Because of the negative media that has surrounded nuclear power since the start,that is one big question to answer when it comes to persuade the public. I dont read so much blogs or forums so... Anyone?
Kirk why doesn't anyone know about this? Seriously, I'm lost why they're thinking they're great creating "new" hydrogen reactors. Am I crazy or were these already designed by scientists years ago?
I love you!! You're a true scientist of this beautiful Universe. Thank you so much, this is the third time I'm watching this video because it's that difficult for my mind to comprehend the use of Uranium reactors in this world.
Did you know every piece of iron we've created since the explosion of the first nuclear bomb can't be used for radiosensitive tools?
You know what, i know this is 6 months old and probably won't be read, but i feel like actually doing a reply here since i think it can help.
The thorium reactor was first developed at the same time where the idea of civilian nuclear power was taking shape, lead primarely by the US, UK and France. All 3 having the same goal and vision overall.
WW2 had ended in the spectacular detonation of the only two nuclear bombs ever used in active combat. The allies had become ascendant to the forefront of world power thanks to this and their victory in the war. But, while america was bragging about how they could anihiate anyone that would threaten them, this was simply a ploy. See, in reality the US was out of bombs. They had manufactured 3 cores in the manhattan project. They only had a single core (the famous deamon core) left in inventory they could turn into a bomb. If the military was to hold to their boast, they needed a LOT more material to make into bombs. Both the UK and France also wanted bombs the exact same way, and back on the other side of the not yet existing iron curtain, the soviets were doing the exact same.
This was when the PWR idea came into being, a reactor that would use enriched uranium to generate electricity. Both the refining process and the used fuel would contain the materials needed to create weapons, while the politicians would get their civilian program they could exploit to divert funds to their state (and often their own pockets). This was what was being pushed forward.
About the same time as that idea was taking shape, the idea of a better reactor, a breeder reactor, was aslo taking shape. This is where the molten salt throrium reactor was made. It had to compete with the fast uranium reactor EBR-1 which was a fast regime breeder. The governement ended up chosing the fast breeder plutonium reactor once again because it would create weapon grade material, while the funding for the MSRE was cut entirely. Despite this the MSRE project kept going and sucessfully proved the forward thinking and insanely efficent design worked as hoped... but then it faded into obscurity.
Lets be clear here, if it wasn't for the MSRE documents being unearthed in some unassuming record back and published online, the thorium reactor would have actually been forgotten by history, since politicans don't know about it, the public does not know ANYTHING about it, and even nuclear scientists aren't being taught about it at all.
@@mobiuscoreindustries six months isn't too long since the issue is on-going for 50 years, thank you for the reply.
You're so right, it's all about the money nothing about safe, cheap energy generation. I'm guessing the influence of the coal, oil and gas industries also played a part to bury the LSR.
Albeit, Norway & Indonesia are currently building and testing LSRs and will soon be leading the way to the somewhat illusive CO2, plastic free energy. Not to mention the safety factors.
I'm very surprised China & France have yet to join the band wagon but I do think the beautiful intelligence of France isn't far behind or are involved with the Norwegian project.
@@CompelledFungus Well, there is multiple reasons for why countries are yet to actually convert to MSRs.
In Europe, you have the towering influence of chernobyl, because this is where most of the damage was done, and where most of the FUD was also spread. This was the "we almost lost detroit" syndrome cranked to a thousand. For years the only thing that could be heard about nuclear power was that it was a nuclear bomb in every complex just waiting to explode, not understanding in the slightest why that could physically not happen. With the fall of the USSR, Russia was quick to start promoting its cheap gas exports to the european union, and saying "you know, if you could tone down your nuclear, you would need more gas. You take public spending, buy our gas, we give your company value, so your shares ride high and you make a monster profit". The public hated nuclear, no one cared about fossil energy, so they just built more peaker plants, and things kept going great.
When the idea of sustainable developpement was put forward as a nessesity, Nuclear was once again shoved forcefully into the picture by scientists. To them, the renewables were still unfinished, not close to good enough as baseload power. Nuclear was there, and it could assume that role, at least until a better reactor or better renewables were developed, but it was possible right now and in quantity. Then fukushima happened, and once again public FUD shoved nuclear right down the drain again. Remember this failure of the operator of the plant, squarely aimed at management, garnered more attention than the nation wide tsunami that caused it, and NONE of the public understanding blamed the denial of the engineering report.
This is also when the same idea of sustainable developement started getting warped. After denying it for decades, politicians started actually thinking on it. Not as somehow understanding that this was something bigger than them, far from it. They simply isolated a tiny fraction of what the scientists were explaining, the parts they could use:
- The world is headed for an imminent catastrophy, but still far enough to be outside their political career.
- People have started to understand that it is a problem, but don't know quite why. They know CO2 is bad, but don't seek to understand the energy, resource or environemental shift that is the real issue behind it
- people want stuff that looks green, don't seem to be interested in something being actually clean or sustainable
- due to not understanding the energy chain, *the public is willing to advocate for the immediate destruction of anything they see as a problem*, as long as they are aware of it
This last part is what got them on the hook, because with good enough manipulation, they can now create demand where there was none. People don't care how their electricity is made, most of them don't know what an electron is. They don't go look further from the wall plug. However they will get angry if you point at a building and say "that building is bad" cause they don't understand that the thing this building makes is what is currently giving them cheap electricity. This is what happened in germany. Under the guise of cheap energy transition, germany destroyed and DEMOLISHED their nuclear park before actually having finished any of their replacement, causing the demand for peaker plants to skyrocket, which of course was the objective all along. Right now, the one country in europe to have done a green transition is the one that pollutes the most.
France is currently suffering from the same issues despite being world leaders in nuclear energy. Reactors across the country are being turned off, get denied maintenance or overhauls, get put on hold forever, and people are being bashed in at school that nuclear energy is not sustainable, has a gigantic waste problem (despite France actually reprocessing and using their waste) and that wind and solar are the only way forward (spoiler, both wind and solar is highly unstable in France leading to low production overall) in a bid to create more gas plants and make France more influencable via energy dependence. The only way this can be curved is always the same way: Lead by example.
Everyone will bash a liquid thorium reactor for the first decade of building and operations. But after that it will get harder to deny if its working great. What we need is a sort of "nuclear musk", someone with an independent mind, detached from consolidated lobbies, with the mind to hatch this gambit, and the means to power through decades of abusive constant FUD and pushback from both the public and governements to make the thing fail.
@2:29 Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard designed a refrigerator that used this type of electromagnetic pumping. It wasn't a commercial success because it howled like a banshee. I think I figured this out. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. So the reaction caused serious vibration which converts into sound. The solution is to use two and have them vibrate in opposite directions. It's kind of like the way BMW motorcycles are balanced. I hope this helps...
Hotter reactors thinner walls not a good idea. We scrapped these designs under the direction of Admiral Rickover in the 60's. You want more history start here www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/advanced-search-view
This guy gives me hope for humanity.
Kirk is to optimistic about the possible revenue of the side products produced.
His assumption is that the prices will remain at the current level, with a highly limited supply.
Yes, for the first few reactors that are built - this assumption is likely to be true, but as more reactors are built the supply will increase and prices will drop.
Hopefully the price of the reactor will drop even faster as more LFTRs are built, when economy of scale does its magic - so this minor oversight shouldn't matter in any practical way.
But I really hate when Greenpeace et al lies, misrepresents and are generally behaving as ignoramuses as soon as they open their mouth to "discuss" nuclear power.
Everyone in the pro nuclear camp should triple check every fact, always be intellectually honest and also never misrepresent - instead make sure to steelman the oppositions views.
If we can't argue our case using truth, we are likely wrong and we should then change our minds.
But I must end by saying that the more I learn, the better nuclear power seems to be compared to the alternatives.
Super interesting presentation.... BUT!!! Can you make a much shorter version of this one, just highlighting the "Pro Thorium" points and leaving out the "filler"?? Many, many people simply cannot (or will not) watch a video this long. If you can break this elephant into more bite-sized pieces, I think it would be a great idea. This is incredibly important information.
Shorter videos I'd recommend are: LFTR in 5 Minutes ruclips.net/video/uK367T7h6ZY/видео.html
Thorium 2017: ruclips.net/video/c7baTdyHv8g/видео.html
1: 52:40 the draining plug is a good idea with the tanks but can there be an heat exchanger around the tank for "wasteheat" which can be used for heating homes
We were steered away from liquid fueled atmospheric pressure reactors behind the scenes, in significant part because the fossil fuel invested system did NOT want to have to compete with any form of nuclear that achieved better than 1% fuel usage efficiency, in a fuel that costs more to mine and refine than platinum.
We need to crowd-fund this... if we as a society were able to donate a quarter billion dollars to a wasted race of a single political candidate many Americans found inspiring...
We can CERTAINLY do THIS...
I think anyone who truly understands the safety and efficiency potential of this particular form of abandoned nuclear technology, ought to be willing to plunk down $5 to $30, and push our regulatory agencies to fast track it.
Perhaps developed as an open source non-profit, that could develop the tech and sell at reasonable cost and properly scaled to our local municipalities.
@Vailhem Why not? You can do whatever you want with that waste heat. Desalinating water is one thing, running a chemical facility to produce fertilizer is also an option. CHP would work great since LFTRs can be made small and modular enough to be fit in densely populated areas to provide local power, which is great for minimizing grid loss and, for CHP systems, to minimize heat energy loss through distance.
Also with regards to the proposed Induction pump running on A/C, seems as though the Serbs have you beaten to the punch:
www.andrijar.com/pump/index.htm
The webpage specifically lists a potential application towards a seal-less, moving parts-less pumping of molten salts in "novel thorium reactors".
If you can get a hold of some Inconel piping (hard), some copper wire (easy), and some electromagnets (easy) you can probably get this up and running for testing. I would recommend that FLIBE get in touch with this gentleman for some idea sharing.
2 questions
is the graphite radioactive when it comes out of the reactor?
could you use the graphite to make graphene for high capacity batteries?
+Levi Sutton
Yes, the graphite is highly radioactive after exposure in a reactor.
Batteries? not sure.
Radioactive material in electrochemical batteries is a terrible thing as far as I can tell. Electric leakage galore.
This should be promoted as a nuclear waste disposal system which can also produce electric power as a byproduct.
There are no transistors that can take the interchange of current to do one-tenth of the output at 1,240.0 Watts. The closest transistors for the elevator controller units at 500 watts max dissipation but common uses at 100 watts to 125 watts each this is the safe limits of use 500% down to 400% for complete switching but there is some research showing that sat core transformers at partial switching these for two to three times. this is still 200 watts to 250 watts.
But the parallel of these units required matching of the parts but the more unit add up the power values in both costs and part rejections.
The main problem is that engineers aren't the best communicators. The real trick is for the engineers and scientists with the LFTR is to learn to effectively reach out to the best communicators like Kirk who have connections to the rest of the planet.
Hello from Sweden 🇸🇪
❤️👍😊👍👍👍🦉
Kirk is a superstar, for sure.
1:43:00 Yup. The young pups with the burr. Let's get this done! I've been researching this for years already, and I understand the technology and am looking into how to begin developing this, and I'm not even in college yet. I have a lot to finish learning and to understand, but seriously, most of this stuff is self-taught, too. We have to do it, or nobody will.
12 years later and this still gets me excited…. I wish we had a president who would get the NRC in a room and just tell them “make this happen. If you fail, global warming will destroy this planet. I’ll make sure you get all the resources you need - this is one of my top priorities.” That’s my dream headcanon and I know it won’t happen, but goddamn do we as the public need a better sense of urgency regarding building more nuclear power, even just today’s conventional. I know NIMBYs are everywhere but I for one would be proud to have a reactor within driving distance of my city.
Wasn't it DuPont engineers that decided to add the extra tubes to the Hanford reactor, not Wigner?
There is no question that this technology will be used in the future. I just hope we are, as a species, intelligent enough to get there before we destroy our beautiful natural world. Nuclear energy needs better marketing. That is the best way to reach the average person. Hell, one super bowl commercial in between Doritos ads would reach more people than Kirk has done in a decade!
The "Clip" feature is all greyed-out 🤦
solar heat storage uses liquid salt test the pump idea on this type
As a French guy, I'm sorry in the stead of my country for pursuing frigging Sodium for a Heat Medium in a Nuclear Reactor...
Could the MSR Power plant make up to 1000 MWe?
But could we use the nuclear aircraft propulsion experiment details to building an reactor?
17:30 finds out about MSRs and thorium
1:05:00 temperature in MSRS relative to PWRs. Applications to water desalination
1:25:00 generator in a PWR
1:28:00 geothermal energy driveb by fission of thorium and uranium
Hi Ales please add 47:59 to 49:59 , the mystery of Nuclear reactions.