This topic is big - too big for this little blog. Thorium is much more than a neat metallic element. Without hyperbole, thorium could easily be the solution to our global power requirements. Do I focus on it's abundancy in nature? It's inability to be weaponized? Maybe I should get all sciency and explain how it doesn't need to be enriched like uranium does, and doesn't produce crazy radioactive waste. Hmmm... I'll start with what I like about thorium.
I think the most promising thing about thorium is that it's a far safer fuel than traditional uranium-fueled nuclear reactors. Instead of Light Water Reactors (LWR) that require constant cooling and monitoring because they, by nature, want to build to meltdown, thorium requires constant "prodding" to stay reactive. If something goes wrong with the generator itself, a thorium reactor would simply stop and start cooling down. Modern uranium reactors, by contrast, go all Fukushima. You get the point.
We live in an energy-addicted world. With the Internet of Things on the horizon, power is more and more important, and thorium posesses two key traits that make it uniquely suited to satisfy the demand.
Primarily, it's abundant. Thorium is three times more common than tin, and equally as common as lead. In fact, recent surveys show Canada has, within its borders, about 100,000 tonnes of readily accessible thorium; the USA has about 440,000; and India with almost 1 million tonnes. These sound like large numbers, but they mean nothing if thorium reactions burn through material at unsustainable rates. Luckily, they do not.
A thorium reaction is extremely efficient. According to the Thorium Energy Alliance, the USA has enough thorium to power the entirety of the country at current consumption levels for 10,000 years. Think about that for a second. With 440,000 tonnes of this metal, approx. 4 billion MWh/year of energy consumption could be maintained for 10,000 years. Isn't that bizarre? Using some basic math, and based on current surveys, we already "know of" more viable thorium on Earth than is required to power the entire planet, yes planet, for 10,000 years.
Thorium is a big deal. Will it come to fruition? Hard to say, really. Big oil will try to stop it, as will numerous anti-nuclear NGO's and groups. I'm still learning about this topic myself, but I urge everyone to educate themselves on the pitfalls and benefits of this potent metal. Therefore, I'll leave you with a video:
Comment early, comment often.