New methods for safe, clean nuclear power developed in China

It’s seem like it’s the in thing these days to doubt our country and our ability to make things happen. But where does that leave us? Well, look at China to see where it doesn’t put us. Wired Science reports the Chinese have had a breakthrough with a new way to provide nuclear power.

The Chinese are building nuclear power plants using molten salt reactor (MSR) technology that does not rely on fuel rods, thereby eliminating the China Syndrome of Chernobyl and the scare we had here with Three Mile Island back in the late 1970s. The Chinese even have a way to take nuclear waste and burn it as fuel in the MSR power plants!

I point this out not to toot China’s horn, but to offer a counterpoint when I hear arguments that coal will always remain king and we’d better get used to it. The reality is that there is so much we can do if we put our minds to it. Who knows, we might even figure out way to burn coal and not make people sick with asthma! 

We Americans are just starting to get back into nuclear, though I’ve been longtime believer in it. I know a lot of people hear that and think, “Oh no! Things will blow up!” But the reality is science has advanced so far since Chernobyl and Three Mile Island. Today’s nuclear burns clean and burns cheap. And it can be an alternative to perfectly valid but New Age-y things like solar, wind, etc.

We used to be a “can do” culture. But these days, it seems that no matter what idea somebody comes up with about energy independence and clean energy, there’s an immediate naysayer to shoot them down.

I want America to win, not to be bunch of whiners. While we whine, the Chinese are at it, putting in solar like maniacs and building a couple dozen newfangled nuclear plants as I write this. We in America have got to get it together. We need to use our candlepower and ingenuity to make things happen for ourselves. We just need the imagination and we need to believe in ourselves again.

As a final thought, where did the Chinese brainiacs building these MSRs get their education? That’s right, here in the United States. We need to get our culture back on track with the idea we can do better than anybody else on Earth. We just need to get the spirit back in us and believe.