Thorium powered cars?

[zarn02]

http://wardsauto.com/ar/thorium_power_car_110811/

Discuss.

[Mother]

Thorium = RARE earth metal

Hydrogen = not RARE earth metal

[Raux]

Want

[lethe]

Thorium = RARE earth metal

Hydrogen = not RARE earth metal

can't run for the life of the vehicle on one tank of hydrogen though
also, hydrogen has to be "made", not typically found as the pure element we would need it as

plus thorium is named after Thor, a god that beats you with a hammer

[Raux]

8 oz is enough for the lifetime of the car, no refueling...

[Speedbag]

Neato.

[ducatiz]

Sounds very cool.  Certainly makes portable nuclear power a reality.

If they have a 250 MW powerplant, seems to me you could just put one next to your house and be off the grid for ever.  The service coming into my house is only 200A which is about 25MW (200 X 120 = 24,000W)

[VisceralReaction]

So you could power about 113,400 cars per short ton of Thorium.
in the US they estimate there is around 400,000 tons, much less the rest of the world.
So conceivably the US could power up to 45,360,000,000 cars for their life assuming that
you can't just swap and recycle the power units to another car once a car wears out.

Currently there is an estimated 234 million cars/trucks etc in the US, can you imagine the difference
in air quality alone?

[ducatiz]

So you could power about 113,400 cars per short ton of Thorium.
in the US they estimate there is around 400,000 tons, much less the rest of the world.
So conceivably the US could power up to 45,360,000,000 cars for their life assuming that
you can't just swap and recycle the power units to another car once a car wears out.

Currently there is an estimated 234 million cars/trucks etc in the US, can you imagine the difference
in air quality alone?

Sure, 45 billion cars.  but think how many homes you can power with it?

[lethe]

but......you never get something for nothing. What are the downsides?
Can this only be mined from under wetlands and orphanages?
Do it cause uncontrollable hair growth?

[Raux]

I want one for the home, and one for a mobile home. then run electic vehicles off the two.

[VisceralReaction]

Sure, 45 billion cars.  but think how many homes you can power with it?

well at least 45 billion
I agree as a cheap energy source for homes would be very cool too!

[Triple J]

Interesting. 

From the article:

And amid widespread concerns about terrorism, would governments allow scores of nuclear sources to roam the freeways?

Hate to break it to them, but there are already a lot of nuclear sources roaming the freeways. Obviously not one in every car, but nuclear density gauges used to test soil compaction contain Cesium, and are very common.

[krolik]

but......you never get something for nothing. What are the downsides?
Can this only be mined from under wetlands and orphanages?
Do it cause uncontrollable hair growth?

Side effects may cause loss of scalp & penis.

[Drjones]

Interesting. 

From the article:

And amid widespread concerns about terrorism, would governments allow scores of nuclear sources to roam the freeways?

Hate to break it to them, but there are already a lot of nuclear sources roaming the freeways. Obviously not one in every car, but nuclear density gauges used to test soil compaction contain Cesium, and are very common.

Cs and AmBe sources of a higher grade are running around the world in oil and gas exploration instruments as well.  They're more transport controlled than cars and soil compaction devices, but they're there nonetheless.