Dream on about the inability for use in bombs. Uranium-233 (bred from the thorium) is nearly as good as plutonium-239 for bomb construction. Test bombs have been built and tested by the U.S., Russia (Soviet Union), and India.
In any case, with a thorium reactor, it would be straightforward to produce plutonium-239 from uranium-238, since you only need neutrons to do it.
Thorium reactors are no panacea for anything. They are just another way to get the job done. And you need a conventional reactor to breed the U-233 out of Th-232, so you are still dependent on the thing you are trying to replace.
I'm wondering if we will develop Thorium Reactors and give Iran "nuclear Power" without the ability to produce bombs.... ?
Dream on about the inability for use in bombs. Uranium-233 (bred from the thorium) is nearly as good as plutonium-239 for bomb construction. Test bombs have been built and tested by the U.S., Russia (Soviet Union), and India.
In any case, with a thorium reactor, it would be straightforward to produce plutonium-239 from uranium-238, since you only need neutrons to do it.
Thorium reactors are no panacea for anything. They are just another way to get the job done. And you need a conventional reactor to breed the U-233 out of Th-232, so you are still dependent on the thing you are trying to replace.