Superfuel: Thorium, the Green Energy Source for the Future Last
year’s tsunami-induced nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan,
raised concerns about the safety of high-pressure water-cooled
nuclear reactors and cast doubt on the future of nuclear power.
Uranium-fueled reactors such as the ones at Fukushima pose a
number of problems, including the risky disposal of radioactive
waste. According to Martin, thorium is a far superior reactor
fuel because it is less radioactive and more abundant than
uranium and also produces much less waste. This thorough book
details the history of research into thorium reactors. In the
1960s, the United States developed an experimental thorium
reactor at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, but the Nixon
administration later abandoned the project for budgetary and
bureaucratic reasons. Today, the governments of China, India,
and Japan are developing thorium reactors, as are private-sector
players in South Africa and the United Kingdom. Martin urges the
United States to get back into