Mississipi River Pollution

http://www.grinningplanet.com/2005/05-17/gulf-of-mexico-dead-zone-usa-global-article.htm

Consuming

Here is a great flash video on consumerism and its effects on our society and planet.

-Walter

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

Trans Fats, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils, and Artificial Color

Information of Trans Fats and Hydrogenated Oils
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogenation#In_the_food_industry
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans_fat#Presence_in_food
http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/66/4/1006S

Information on Food Coloring
http://www.food.gov.uk/safereating/chemsafe/additivesbranch/colours/hyper/
http://www.cspinet.org/new/200806022.html
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091116165739.htm
http://cspinet.org/new/pdf/mccann.pdf

Thorium

Once upon a time.....

"Published in 1958 under the auspices of the Atomic Energy Commission as part of its Atoms for Peace program, Fluid Fuel Reactors is a book only an engineer could love: a dense, 978-page account of research conducted at Oak Ridge National Lab, most of it under former director Alvin Weinberg. What caught Sorensen’s eye was the description of Weinberg’s experiments producing nuclear power with an element called thorium.

At the time, in 2000, Sorensen was just 25, engaged to be married and thrilled to be employed at his first serious job as a real aerospace engineer. A devout Mormon with a linebacker’s build and a marine’s crew cut, Sorensen made an unlikely iconoclast. But the book inspired him to pursue an intense study of nuclear energy over the next few years, during which he became convinced that thorium could solve the nuclear power industry’s most intractable problems. After it has been used as fuel for power plants, the element leaves behind minuscule amounts of waste. And that waste needs to be stored for only a few hundred years, not a few hundred thousand like other nuclear byproducts. Because it’s so plentiful in nature, it’s virtually inexhaustible. It’s also one of only a few substances that acts as a thermal breeder, in theory creating enough new fuel as it breaks down to sustain a high-temperature chain reaction indefinitely. And it would be virtually impossible for the byproducts of a thorium reactor to be used by terrorists or anyone else to make nuclear weapons."

http://www.wired.com/magazine/2009/12/ff_new_nukes/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+wired/index+(Wired:+Index+3+(Top+Stories+2))

Here is a video of Sorensen giving his presentation to Google, who is investigating employing this technology.

I sent this article to my Aunt, who passed it a friend on the Nuclear Regulations Council. This is what she sent back:


"Have had a response back from both my LCRA board chair (whose hubby is on the NRC) and staff.  They all found the article very interesting….and even sent it on to others to read.  They felt the article was very accurate and that in the 70’s a decision was made and the direction set to go with uranium….because of the byproduct for nuclear arms.  Thorium is probably better overall for power generation alone, but now that we have an industry standard, it would take lots of time and $$$$ to shift to Thorium.  All said it is a real possibility in the future, but it will probably take a big generating country (India or China) to take the lead, or a governmental mandate. 

They all thanked me for the great article…..I am now better educated on Nuclear Power!!!!!"

What do you think?