Apologies in advance for tossing out a succession of half-baked ideas
this morning. There is more detail on the way, and several of these will
be tied together in the end. Adjust your SPAM filters accordingly.
Thorium deuteride is a MOST interesting compound. It is a
superconductor. And of course, it has many other properties which make
it useful for energy production.
[side note]...wonder if one might present the premise that the Cooper
pair is the most basic form of degenerate electron ?
In terms of abundance, there is at least three times more Th than U on
the earth's surface, and best of all it often occurs in rich deposits,
and along with other valuable "rare earth" elements. It is about 5000
times less expensive than Pd. If we assume that "transmutation" of
active electrode material is unavoidable in LENR, then the issue of
radioactive ash is merely a matter of degree.
The name monazite comes from the Greek 'mono'(to be solitary) because of
the isolated nearly pure crystals of minerals, most of which have
thorium content - which make the mineral potentially cheap to mine and
refine from "monazite sands".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_mineral_sands_ore_deposits
All indications are that in quantity production, a price per pound of
slightly less than the current price of copper is achievable. The same
type of open pit mines would be used and deposits are richer. South
Africa alone could supply total world energy needs for thousands of
years. India has even more.
Here is detail on ThD2 info-sources(not the Video game developer)
http://www.osti.gov/energycitations/product.biblio.jsp?osti_id=7351566
