I'm a founder of the first U.S. company devoted to developing a liquid fluoride thorium reactor to produce a safer kind of nuclear energy. AMA

eobet · 6 months

Let us know what your stock symbol will be when you go public. I want to invest.

Sid_Harmless · 6 months

First up, I'd just like to say that I have an immense amount of respect for the work you're doing, and I don't believe it's an exaggeration to say that the technology may be seen by future generations as the defining one of the century.

My question is this: Do you believe that China's recent announcements that they intend to pursue the technology force the hand of Western states, much like the launch of Sputnik created a space-race?

lastchance · 6 months

What can an average folk (like me) do to help see this developed and deployed outside of China? No engineering background. Not rich.

Optimash_Prime · 6 months

Are they still doing construction on Memorial Parkway?

Also, what is your five-year goal with your company?

coveritwithgas · 6 months

According to Wikipedia, you're five years from a prototype, which your own estimates peg at several hundred million dollars. A lot of your personal efforts are PR-focused. Your company may or may not consist of the four people on your webpage. What do you say to people who suspect you have a slim chance of delivering?

JayKay_00 · 6 months

Why is the United States so far behind the curve on Thorium reactors? From what I understand, they are much cleaner and safer than the current reactors in use in the US.

mrwadia · 6 months

What would happen to a LFTR in a Fukushima style station blackout situation?

b_ohare · 6 months

Your presentation at Google is what got me interested in thorium. Pure awesomeness.

SirPompitous · 6 months

What are your thoughts on Helium-3 and its ability to produce safe and efficient fusion reactions?

darngooddogs · 6 months

Bless you sir. I have been advocating this for about a year now (since I discovered it) and talking about it on reddit. People who are educated about it have trashed the idea because of "lack of infrastructure". What now doubters?

riatsila · 6 months

Based on your board of advisors, you seem to have a very good technical standing as a comapny. However, how do you plan to aise the vast sums required to develop a mature plant?

Also, what experience do you have dealing with government departments to get the correct permits, follow regulation properly etc?

What's your supply chain management strategy (in broad strokes) for construction materials and fuel? How will you deal with waste?

bryanobrian · 6 months

Ironically, I just was interviewed for a position in Thorium Reactor research at UCI.

What did you get your degree in?
Have you worked at a reactor before that has achieved breeding?
Also, my adviser also talked about the ability to reuse 'waste', except for the compromise Jimmy Carter made back at the tail end of the Cold War. What proposals would you make for the reuse of this 'waste'?

Thanks so much, sorry for loading up the questions.

shipmate · 6 months

Hey kirk, I have a question for you.

I watched the video, and didn't seem to be presented with any evidence save for the fact that "Thorium energy is awesome and will save the world!" I googled a few things, and lo and behold, most of what I can find seems to be more along the lines of testimonials rather than evidence. I did find one site that had some fairly impressive statistics regarding the size of the reactor and its energy production capabilities. This is where I draw my question.

As a former Navy nuke, a reactor like this would do immense favors for the navy. As it stands now, reactor spaces on an aircraft carrier account for about 1/3 of the ships total volume. Most of these spaces are actually either support systems or propulsion systems that utilize the reactor's power, but nonetheless, a very large portion of the ship is utilized for the very big reactor, and it's necessary auxiliary systems. Why, then, has the Navy not pursued this type of energy? Every nuke has in them the same spirit of ingenuity that Admiral Rickover had, regardless of how much they hate the Navy (yes we all hate it!). A reactor like this would save so much space, reduce a bunch of cost, basically make our current warships so many times better. So why, Kirk, has the Navy, who should be more concerned about proper reactor operation and the safety of this country, not pursued such a dream?

giggsy664 · 6 months

ELI5: Why your reactor is safer?

Also, how would this fare cost-wise to a conventional reactor?

Multi_Pass · 6 months

How close are we to having in home thorium generators? and how plausible would that tech be for private use? Could we use this tech in cars and other areas of life?

forcefielddog · 6 months

How do you expect to compete with the TVA? It'll be pretty hard to beat hydroelectric power as a source of energy.

taccosnoger · 6 months

Would you consider moving your work to another country if it offered better funding and more promise of being implemented? Why?

Ninjatertl · 6 months

how frustrating is it for you to watch the government fund all of the inefficient means of power, while thorium is essentially getting the cold shoulder? Also, how long do you think it will be until the U.S. will be 100% thorium?

ddwgclan · 6 months

I have three questions.

Do you work the Scandinavian interests developing Thorium nuclear technology, are you in competition with them, or is your reactor based on different technology?
Are you encountering considerable resistance from the established Uranium players in the nuclear market, or is that just a myth?
Considering this might well be the magic bullet for energy production, are you getting any assistance at all from the energy dept?

zenfish · 6 months

Do you see nuclear/energy sustaining the economy in Huntsville with all the cuts to NASA and Redstone coming down the pipe?

Hagiology · 6 months

What's your stock symbol?

And are you planning on building AND consulting thorium power plants, or just building them?

haltingpoint · 6 months

How did you get your start in this field and what is the story of how you founded the company? Basically I'm wondering if you're like, an engineer and did this in your garage with some small investors, or if you're a big business guy who got lots of VC funding and went to town.

adelaarvaren · 6 months

How would you compare your project to Terrapower, or other Traveling Wave Reactors?

b_ohare · 6 months

Someone I know really wants to build a home-sized thorium reactor that would generate just enough energy to power a home. He thinks that the best way to get thorium accepted into the mainstream is to get it that small so that it becomes the de facto standard for energy.

What advice would you offer him to get this project going? Who should he reach out to?

zenon · 6 months

How hot does an LFTR run? I was wondering what kind of industrial processes that can run directly on the heat from the reactor rather than on electricity from the plant's generators.

Anything with "fluoride" in the name makes me nervous... How toxic is the FLiBe molten salt mixture? And how do you pronounce Flibe?

Can the reactor burn other isotopes than ²³³ U?

edit: Are you interested in funding from small (very small) investors :-)

quigley007 · 6 months

How does thorium fit in with wind and solar technologies. What advantages over these does it have?

Why would we choose thorium over wind and solar?

theorymeltfool · 6 months

I saw a video that featured you on Youtube. Did you really just happen to notice that book on Thorium in your colleagues study?
Can I invest in your company yet?

87linux · 6 months

You're being very professional about all this. You do realize where you are, right?

radnuke · 6 months

I have 8 years naval nuclear power experience, 10 years gas turbine cogeneration power plant experience, AAS's in Mechanical Engineering Tech., Nuclear Power, Power Plant Technology, and am working on a BSc in Nuclear Engineering Technology and a BAS in Energy Management. I love the idea of someone developing LFTR's in the US. Do you have any openings?

kaythetall · 6 months

What's your reaction to the initiation of Thorium reactors in India?

One one hand, any development of the technology is a good thing, but India has such an appalling safety record if anyone could screw this up it would be them. A poorly made Thorium plant would discourage any further investment, would it not?

Gforce1 · 6 months

I thought that I had herd you say that Plutonium-238 is a byproduct of LFTR reactors. Assuming that is the case and also that NASA is running out of their Plutonium-238 stockpiles used in space exploration. Would it make sense to push for funding into LFTR technology from the government based on that?

snasu · 6 months

I'm a recent graduate with a BS in chemistry. How far under qualified am I for this work, and what would it take for me to get a job working with something like this?

kleopatra6tilde9 · 6 months

Just a small advertisement: /r/thoriumreactor/

winterbeard · 6 months

After reading every word of your website, and every word of every comment here...I'm blown away. Sid_Harmless hit it right on the head with his comment earlier.

You've got something really incredible, Kirk. I wish you the utmost success.

soupiejr · 5 months

This should be in the kickstarter project, with a promise of open-sourcing it, some 15 years after the first commercial development has finished, so that the public can get access to cheap power generation alternatives. This could revolutionize the world, if greed does not get in the way...

kirksorensen · 6 months

[deleted]

TiltedPlacitan · 6 months

I'm a software engineer. Hire me.

NOACeulemans · 6 months

Do you think the current 'nuclear lobby' would rather fight the hopefully-eventual switch to Thorium or become an early adopter and run with its (again, hopefully eventual) growth?

zenon · 6 months

Approximately how small can the smallest useful LFTR be? Small and light enough to be lifted by a Falcon 9 or similar rocket?

Gnomie86 · 6 months

What are the main advantages to this appeoach compared to the Rubia reactor?

And, while the Earth's thorium reserves are indeed vast, is it not also true that much of this is scattered so thinly that mining the stuff in an economicallu viable manner would be a tremendous challenge?

hi_zen_berg · 6 months

Are there university programs that specialize in LFTR reactor and process engineering?

raggedtoad · 6 months

What are your thoughts on the Integral Fast Reactor? From what I have read it was a promising new reactor design in the United States until the Department of Energy cut funding for the project in 1994.

Apparently these reactors are much more efficient (causing 99.5% of uranium used to undergo fission) and produce waste with a much shorter half life. I'm very curious as to why more effort has not been put forth developing this technology.

RedCoatsForever · 6 months

What sort of boundaries are there from an engineering standpoint to putting a reactor on the market?

What about from a financial standpoint?

Have you looked into the original CANDU reactor designs from Atomic Energy Canada Ltd.? I've heard they were meant to be Thorium reactors.

striped_zebra · 6 months

Hey Kirk, I've watched one of your lengthy presentations on LFTR and was really sold on the idea. I wish the Dept of Energy and NRC would focus on R and D and put more money in future reactor designs. I am actually about to start a 2 month program to become qualified in refueling reactors for US naval ships. I am very excited to learn the ins and outs.

As far as the LFTR, I am not completely sure about the fuel in the vessel. From what I understand, the thorium is the fuel source, which reacts with neutrons, fission and creates heat just like LWRs. What I am confused about is how this heat is transfered. It seems like the thorium fuel is in a liquid form with a floride salt moderator. I guess I dont understand the moderator and fuel being in a liquid form together. How does that work? In PWRs the fuel is encompassed in fuel cells and water flows over that to collect and transfer the heat.

Thanks for all your help and I would love to see LFTRs in my lifetime!!

700express · 6 months

Well, hopefully you see this. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. I wish more people could see the potential thorium has and exactly what virtually unlimited energy could mean.

Tabdelineated · 6 months

I think that there is a huge amount of potential for small self contained reactors.
How does your reactor differ from the hyperion reactor? (Another small self contained ~~thorium~~ reactor also under development.)
Edit: I thought they were thorium based, but it looks like it's uranium based

cliftonixs · 6 months

Hi Kirk. I wanna say, keep up the good work. We need guys like you and your company to make the world a better place. A very awesome Thank You!

kenks88 · 6 months

No questions, just a thank you for your work, Keep it up, you're changing the world for a better. Now if you can only convince them to dump more money in Nuclear power vs putting more and more in Oil, gas etc.

I love almost everything aboutnuclear power, its a shame close minded people are still afraid of it. Ignorance is killing our planet.

blairbunke · 6 months

I've read that nuclear energy has been on the decline for decades and that the U.S. actually hasn't built a new plant since the 70's because oil and coal are so much cheaper. After what happened in Japan recently and the advent of alternative sources of energy do you think there's a way nuclear ever makes a comeback?

tim212 · 6 months

How do you think the job market for nuclear engineers will be in the next few decades?

ElectricRebel · 6 months

Given your history with NASA, can you talk briefly about LFTR and space applications in the long term? Obviously, the Mars Science Lab and other important projects are using RTGs, but these have limited output. Is LFTR better suited than other reactor designs for space applications? Would LFTR make sense for a nuclear-thermal or nuclear-electric rocket (I have read your blog posts in the past speaking negatively of nuclear thermal, but would LFTR help fix some of the problems such as thrust/weight ratio)? Or what about just as a very energy dense power supply for electricity for a space station/colony or other applications?

Feel free to answer this with as much or as little detail as you want. I'm just interested in hearing a brain dump since you have a background in both nuclear technology and space exploration.

Radioactdave · 6 months

Hi Mr. Sorensen! First, I think the way you're pursuing your thing is awesome and inspiring and I hope that you'll be successful with your work.

A few questions:

How easy is it to mine the ore containing thorium and are there any special geological constellations necessary?

As far as I understood one feature (from my point of view) of thorium reactors is the lack of waste that can be weaponized. In your opinion, is that why the technology was abandoned in the 70s, and do you think that it'll be a problem/obstacle in the future?

What's your favorite alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverage?

colindean · 6 months

From reading some of the responses, I can't tell if you're more business or more engineer. Where do you align yourself? You can go 2D on this, or add in another variable if you desire.

asfdlkjasfd · 6 months

What is the biggest engineering problem facing LFTRs?

Also in what way could an LFTR fail?

Val_da_Firenze · 6 months

What is your oppinion on the CANDU design? Do you think it could be used as a testing bed for thorium? Have had a talk with several engineers who've said that its design makes it the fastest step into putting thorium into a full scale test.

maverickaz · 6 months

Kirk, I have great respect for technology pioneers such as yourself! Do you seen any future use for this technology in the field of space travel? If so can you go into detail? Thanks!

HandsomestNerd · 6 months

What is your post secondary education background?

chikoo · 6 months

First, thanks for doing this! I'm a student studying Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies and I'm fascinated with all things nuclear. As such, I'm currently working on my thesis dealing with nuclear latency and the Middle East.

In your opinion, what is the likelihood thorium-based reactors could enter the Middle East? As of September, about 21 reactors are planned to go critical throughout the region by 2020. Could LFTRs (perhaps in conjunction with the work India is doing on thorium as well) make it to the region before 2020, potentially curbing proliferation and latency concerns?

Khoeth_Mora · 6 months

I am a chemist with a great deal of interest in your work. My biggest question is, do you have any research positions open?

More to the point, how long do you think it will be until your company produces an efficient product at a profit?

dancing_bananas · 6 months

As a math major with an interest in physics I would really like to know what background does your employees have, are they mostly nuclear engineers and physicist? (I'm unsure if you have that in the US but we have it here)

What's the greatest technical challenge that you face and what are you doing to overcome it?

I'm glad you did this and I hope you get to my question.

Apple987 · 6 months

I'm a freshman in college, majoring in electrical engineering. Do you have any positions open (preferably four years in the future) I'd love to work for you guys. I firmly believe nuclear is the way to go and want to get involved to get us off fossil fuels!

kirksorensen · 6 months

What alloy do you plan on using for the reactor vessel and core structure, since Hastelloy-N is no longer in production and is extremely expensive? Also, what is the highest Li-7 enrichment your company can achieve, in order to offset the the high absorption cross-section of Li-6?

aliaspete · 6 months

is your company open to public investment?

TehObviousAnswer · 6 months

Hiring graduating Chemical Engineers?

warrickneff · 6 months

Have you had any 'real' conversations with the U.S. NRC?

What unique licensing difficulties does your technology present - and do you expect the NRC to be understanding of such things?

Do you foresee another alternate technology being adapted before your own? What sort of drawbacks and benefits does your technology have over Travelling Wave reactors?

kirksorensen · 6 months

What's your education like? How does one get into a job like this?

PaleInTexas · 6 months

Can a thorium reactor really use weapon grade plutonium and waste from older nuclear power plants as fuel?

kirksorensen · 6 months

[deleted]

FockerCRNA · 6 months

I've read that Xenon has the potential to be used as a next generation anesthetic gas, less soluble than desflurane without being pungent. One problem is apparently the limited availability and expense of producing Xenon. You mention in one of your answers that Xenon is a byproduct of your process. Is the amount of Xenon produced in your LFTRs significant enough that it could be a source for the medical community in the future?

EternalStudent · 6 months

What's your opinion of Radkowsky reactors?

eigervector · 6 months

Itinerant Nuclear Engineer here. Good to see someone pushing this technology, and I really hope it works.

You may see my resume someday; I want to get in to a part of this industry that is not stuck in the 60s.

How do you stand as far as licensing is concerned? Any buyers to make the NRC push the issue?

OzJuggler · 6 months

Environmental groups campaign to have "renewable energy" (ie ambient energy) power plants installed on the basis that it is practical today and that generation IV nuclear power plants require huge taxpayer subsidies and are unproven. At the same time they typically demand capital investments and subsidies from governments to install CSP, PV, and wind farms on the basis that governments should be investing in the development of "renewable energy". Do you see any hypocrisy in that view?

What do you say to long term nuclear power detractors such as Helen Caldicott?

you'll need to login or register to do that

create a new account

login