The U.S.'s Molten Salt Reactor Non-Program: putting together the pieces

[hunter]

1. Nuclear reactors that "burned up" the spent fuel of existing reactors might be useful.

The idea that these reactors could be fueled with plutonium from nuclear weapons or materials that have already been mined is also intriguing.

But the first order of business is to stop using fossil fuels. Unfortunately new "zero" carbon energy sources don't replace fossil fuels, they only increase the total amount of energy humans use.

It's like giving a drug addict money to buy beer. You're not going to turn him into a responsible social drinker that way.

The only way to quit burning fossil fuels is to quit burning fossil fuels -- to start tearing down fossil fueled power plants, to stop producing fossil fueled vehicles irregardless of whether any "replacement" technology exists.

I'd like to see some modern MSRs built with the goal of making something that can be produced like a jet liner in a factory. It may not be the path we ultimately choose, but it's better to keep our options open rather than do little or nothing to break our fossil fuel habit.