

Ask HN: Who is funding Thorium/power gen startups? - gte910h

People have been talking about Thorium reactors since near the beginning. The governments of the world seem wholly uninterested in funding this.<p>Are there incubators/VC who are funding energy research who aren't scared off by the "nuclear" label on some processes?
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polyfractal
I emailed my nuclear engineer friend about thorium reactors, if they are being
used, etc. This was his response:

"Metal reactors are better, but are different. Eventually they will be used in
conjunction with light water reactors, because they use spent LWR fuel as new
fuel. The only reason they arent around is that the NRC doesnt have the
knowledge/expertise to approve them. Also the usgov is super anal about
breeder reactors since technically you can make weapons grade fuel with them,
even though its be a nightmare seperating Pu form the rest of the fuel."

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known
The ratio of plutonium needed to seed and convert thorium into fissionable
uranium-233 is very high (0.8:1)

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ig1
[http://www.thoriumenergyalliance.com/downloads/TEAC2%20prese...](http://www.thoriumenergyalliance.com/downloads/TEAC2%20presentations/TEAC2_Maurice%20Gunderson.pdf)

