[cdn-nucl-l] CBC Dispatches Podcast: Thorium in a drum

[Jaro Franta <jaro-10kbq@sympatico.ca>]

http://www.cbc.ca/dispatches/2010season/2010/10/28/october-28-31-2010-from-r
io-de-janeiro---dublin---voss-norway---huntsville-alabama---london--/ 
28-X-2010
Thorium in a drum

Buried in the Nevada desert are a few hundred drums of a common mineral that
could power every state in the U.S. 

It's called thorium, mostly used in lightbulbs and welding. But capable of
powering nuclear reactors in liquid or solid form. In the '50s, the U.S.
looked into it until promoters of uranium reactors muscled it out. 

But thorium remains cheaper. And safer. And some say it holds the key to a
future of clean and affordable energy. The catch? Billions in startup costs,
and not many investors as long as uranium's around.

Which is why the American military dumped -- ah, stored -- all that thorium
under Nevada in 2005 after sitting on it for 50 years. 

But thorium's defenders live in hope, and Kirk Sorensen is one of them. He's
a nuclear technology engineer, formerly with NASA. And a bit of a voice in
the American nuclear wilderness, it has to be said. 

He spoke to Rick from Huntsville, Alabama... 



Play Audio Clip



Kirk Sorensen is a nuclear technology engineer with Teledyne Brown
Engineering in Huntsville, Alabama. On his Twitter page he describes himself
as a "thorium evangelist."