Joe

Not only is there plenty of uranium, there is three times as much
thorium which is easily processed into fuel. If we extracted all the
uranium dissolved in the oceans, we could run all today's power stations
throughout the world for thousands of years, without even recycling. The
Japanese are developing a passive system for U-extraction from the sea
which looks quite promising but is too expensive to be competitive at
today's prices.

Did you know that the advent of the filament lamp cut exposure to
chronic radiation in developed countries by a factor of 10? Why? Because
we used coal gas as our main energy source and lighting was largely
achieved by a Bunsen-flame heating a mantle which glowed with a bright
greenish light. The mantle was a beehive-shaped matrix of thorium
dioxide, formed by burning away a muslin bag impregnated with it. The
mantles were quite radioactive and placing one near a box of
photographic plates would fog them. The use of such mantles continued in
households until ~1950 in poorer parts, where electricity was too
expensive. For the anecdote, I can remember the lamplighters going round
the streets at dusk with their stick to light the gaslights, in my
boyhood town of Edinburgh, both before and after the war (blackout during!).

Brian

Joe Fjelstad wrote:
> Thanks for the link Brian (now book marked) as well as for critiquing  the
> article. (It seems there is something new to learn with each post  you make)
>
> The post I made was only to note and bring to the attention of  the forum
> that it appears that there may be a  broader awakening to the need for
> alternative energy sources and  that nuclear energy is a manageable risk. Technology
> does not (always)  stand still.
>
> Al Gore's film (An Inconvenient Truth) is out in theaters  in the states. He
> clearly has formed his opinions on the topic of global  warming and is not shy
> about sharing them. This, while there are many who are  still waiting to see
> if global warming is, in fact, happening and/or arguing if  humans are having
> any impact on the matter, if it is.
>
> On the topic of uranium, I found a couple of interesting items on the  web...
>
>
> it is reported that uranium is more plentiful than antimony,  beryllium,
> cadmium, gold, mercury, silver, or tungsten, so finding material for  fuel should
> not be a problem. (as you note, it takes some effort to make it  useful for
> the task)
>
>
> Also...
>
> "The general population is exposed to uranium primarily through food and
> water; the average daily intake of uranium from food ranges from 0.07 to 1.1
> micrograms per day."  (don't tell the EU parliament... ;-)
>
> Thanks again,
> Joe
>

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