Thorium regulation bleeds hi-tech manufacturing jobs?
There’s a fair bit of buzz around THORIUM these days. I’m very much in favor of developing it for baseload electricity demand. The following video delivers such an argument…
…however there’s another compelling argument for re-thinking our approach to thorium: We’re crippling our hi-tech manufacturing sector, and handing a ridiculous competitive advantage to China.
This isn’t about expensive labor. Some hi-tech devices (iPads, iPhones, hybrid car batteries, navigation systems, wind turbines) simply can NOT be built to perform well without Heavy Rare Earths.
China’s monopoly on Heavy Rare Earths is a big part of why new hi-tech manufacturing jobs never materialize here. And their monopoly on HRE can’t be addressed without understanding where thorium comes from, and how tightly it is controlled.