Bill Gates pitching fourth-gen TerraPower nuclear reactors to China

But then we have had 120 years of development for the petrol car, but almost none for the electric car, you don't find this strange?

I didn't say that I didn't. I didn't know to what you were referring to as brainwashing. Thats why i asked. I have not seen 'who killed...." looking it up.

watching...be back for epic quotes soon!

Gee, you had me until you said "epic" :p
 
I guess the point in asking Why china was more-so for the idea that China doesn't have the US's best interest in mind and you all KNOW that's true. What's it gonna take for these chi-coms to reverse engineer this and make some MORE powerful weapon out of it? Nothing! Yes China is forward thinking, but so is Japan. Yes Japan just had some meltdowns , but that makes it an ideal time for technology like this, safer unmanned nuclear power plants would mean something to a lot of people. (I heard on the radio that the dangerous parts of the plant were to be unmanned). Something about it just doesn't sit right with me.

I understand that we need to make advancements on energy and fast. But before you know it China will be hoarding this technology AND energy and selling it to the highest bidder, or waiting it out until other countries NEED it and then china suddenly gains new territory.

It's not as far fetched as you might imagine.
 
We really need to look into Thorium and LFTR. To continue down the same path with this type of reactor doesn't make sense. We need to rethink nuclear energy from the ground up.
 
Actually, if they want to go with the safest and cleanest form of nuclear energy that has already been proven, the should use MSR's.

Molten Salt Reactors
they use thorium
they can eliminate nuclear waste
they operate at normal atmospheric pressure
they can not meltdown, if they start to overheat a frozen salt plug melts and the reaction is shutoff
they can not be used to create nuclear weapons

To bad Bill Gates does not know about these!
 
I guess the point in asking Why china was more-so for the idea that China doesn't have the US's best interest in mind and you all KNOW that's true. What's it gonna take for these chi-coms to reverse engineer this and make some MORE powerful weapon out of it? Nothing! Yes China is forward thinking, but so is Japan. Yes Japan just had some meltdowns , but that makes it an ideal time for technology like this, safer unmanned nuclear power plants would mean something to a lot of people. (I heard on the radio that the dangerous parts of the plant were to be unmanned). Something about it just doesn't sit right with me.

I understand that we need to make advancements on energy and fast. But before you know it China will be hoarding this technology AND energy and selling it to the highest bidder, or waiting it out until other countries NEED it and then china suddenly gains new territory.

It's not as far fetched as you might imagine.

I doubt they'll be selling it anytime soon. They have the right idea though. They realize what population growth can do to an economy. Did you see that dam they're building?
 
nuclear has obviously had bad press due to some accidents but at the end of the day its still far safer and better than the alternatives . People seem to think electricity magically appears from nowhere and constantly moan about oil . Electric cars are no better for the enviroment than petrol/diesel cars.

I've been to 2 nuclear plants in england and you feel a lot safer there than at a coal mine or an oil platform. And those plants are very old technology , you have to laugh when you see the inside of them , its like a 1930's sci-fi film with big dials everywhere :).
 
Tomorrow_Rains said:
If oil doesn't need to be used to run these things then by all means. Because literally...The world is out of Oil Lol.
My 7th grade science teacher told us that in 1958!
 
jeffz6 said:
I agree with burty117, lets put Bill's reactor in every car!

lol!... wait what? I never said that?

jonelsorel said:
You probably also think the present status quo regarding electric cars is just a coincidence, despite the brotherhood between oil and car industries.

No not at all, Have you ever thought that maybe your thinking a little too deeply into this? I severally doubt Oil companies are stopping the progress of electric cars, Probably more the fact that they cost more and are less convenient? I mean, say they do cost more because of Oil companies, they will still be a load of rubbish?

Per Hansson said:
red1776 said:
The brain washing has worked well on you I see!
You didn't stop to think WHY a diesel powered car is cheaper to own than an electric car?

This thread seems kind of fragmented. I have a question. What is the "brainwashing" you are referring to?
The first cars released in the 1890's where electric drive, than came petrol cars and surprassed them, which is not so strange when you look at the price of electricity at that time (See the link above to the TED talk about the nuclear reactor by Bill Gates, the price of electricity was tenfolds higher than what we have today, adjusted for inflation of course)

But then we have had 120 years of development for the petrol car, but almost none for the electric car, you don't find this strange?
What happens is the oil industry is so big so they just buy up all patents they can, therefore we have not seen any significant breakthroughs in battery capacity in the last 120 years...
For more info you can watch the documentary "who killed the electric car"

Lots of other equipment in the world depend on batteries, I'm pretty sure oil companies have not single handedly stopped all progress of batterie capacity breakthrough's but maybe due to the fact that its not easy? A bit like hydrogen powered cars, works a treat but no one can find an easy way of creating the stuff.

Also to note, Electric isn't cheap now either, sure it was higher back in 1890 but I wouldn't call it fantastically cheap at the moment either. Again though even if electric was cheaper, you still have the issue that the car costs more to run and buy plus it takes 30+ hours to charge?

I'm not standing up for Oil companies by the way, I hate them as much as the next person, but the idea of them down right stopping a break through in Battery technology since the 1890'a is just plain silly...
 
Burty117: Each year there is a new amazing discovery in battery technology that the devs say will improve battery capacity and charging times tenfold, I've read these news for as long as I have lived, always from different researches.

In the end we have not seen any big improvement in battery capacity, and you think this is not strange?

Also it does not take 30+ hours to charge an electric car, there are services offering battery swaps (like a gas station) done in less than 3 minutes.
And "normal" charging can be done in just a few hours, that is you park your car for the night and the next morning it will be fully charged

http://www.teslamotors.com/goelectric/charging

https://www.techspot.com/news/46278-breakthrough-could-bring-tenfold-increase-in-battery-life.html

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=breakthrough+battery+capacity&meta=
 
Per Hansson said:
Burty117: Each year there is a new amazing discovery in battery technology that the devs say will improve battery capacity and charging times tenfold, I've read these news for as long as I have lived, always from different researches.

In the end we have not seen any big improvement in battery capacity, and you think this is not strange?

Also it does not take 30+ hours to charge an electric car, there are services offering battery swaps (like a gas station) done in less than 3 minutes.
And "normal" charging can be done in just a few hours, that is you park your car for the night and the next morning it will be fully charged

http://www.teslamotors.com/goelectric/charging

https://www.techspot.com/news/46278-breakthrough-could-bring-tenfold-increase-in-battery-life.html

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=breakthrough+battery+capacity&meta=

Then I guess i'm just talking from the UK, we don't have battery swap places, hell I believe for toyota to replace the battery costs around £7000.

Plenty of coverage has been done on electric cars in the UK and it does take 30 hours to charge an average elctric car over here, We don't have quick charge stations or anything fancy, just plug into the wall.

Also don't most technology's grow the same way? get better and better each year? We haven't had a massive breakthrough in a lot of everyday items, I would have thought we would have had a break through in kitchen utility's or the common home boiler but that simply hasn't happened.

Although I do wonder, why do you think Electric cars are the future?
 
Good idea but Thorium is the future of nuclear power. Surprised that China even bought some. They're installing a few Thorium reactors there as well...
 
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