Thorium vehicle will run 100 years on 8 grams of fuel

[johnd83]

2. Sorry, but bunk

I am a huge supporter of Thorium fueled reactors, but they make a LOT of radiation when in operation. The advantage over Uranium based systems is that the fuel becomes safe in one or two hundred years (vs 10,000 for U235) and Thorium is plentiful. It also doesn't require processing as the most abundant isotope is used. Uranium reactors require enrichment of U235 which is expensive and polluting. The amount of shielding and danger of release in an accident make vehicles powered directly by Thorium completely impractical.

Also, Thorium reactors don't "melt down". They require an outside neutron to transmute Th232 to U233. There is no "chain reaction", meaning that if the outside excitation is removed the system will stop. The reactors are designed in such a way that they are walk away safe and don't require active cooling to prevent reactor failure.