Two articles caught my attention this week about nuclear energy. Both of them reminded me that life’s consequences are often made in an epic moment where decisions happen because of current need rather than a rational analysis.

It turns out that thorium was understood to be a better alternative to uranium back in the late 1950s. Thorium is an outlier in nuclear energy because its radioactivity is readily available and not nearly as explosive. The design of a Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor (LFTR) is far safer than uranium reactors because the system does not need fail-safe backup systems for cooling the core. So why did this strategy not take off?

In the 1950s, the goal was to have weapons, not energy, and it was the ability to deliver weapons of mass destruction that drove development. The nuclear program was overseen by Vice Admiral Rickover. A cousin of mine used to work for Vice Admiral Rickover. His staff had replaced the Navy’s traditional “Aye, Aye,” which means “I understand and I obey,” with the acronym “YARVAR,” which stood for “You’re absolutely right, Vice Admiral Rickover.” Given that absolute, it’s easy to see his decision drove the industry.

And it has continued to drive the industry today, until Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi disaster. Now is the time when nuclear is doing some soul searching. Kirk Sorenson of Flibe Energy is the evangelist for Thorium reactors. You can find his blog “Energy from Thorium” here. If you are open to rethinking how we obtain energy, this is a blog to watch.

Speaking of rethinking, do you remember the concept of cold fusion? Dr. Brian Ahern of Catalyzed Combustion Technologies has replicated the cold fusion experiments of Andrea Rossi and has consistently achieved 8 watts out of the nano fuel. This was discussed at MIT (News - Alert) at the Cold Fusion conference.

In both cases, we are looking at something very different than today’s power plants. Using these technologies, it’s possible for the smart grid to be a distributed system and not a distribution system. Energy could be delivered cleanly from nearby areas.

If our goal is to build for the future, the two-way nature of smart grid has to be emphasized.