Despite what you may think, the most dangerous part of a conventional nuclear reactor is not the fuel; it is the water.
Water boils at a ridiculously low 100 Deg C. This means that in order to keep the water in a liquid state the system must be pressurized to up to 80 atmospheres. In this state any loss of pressure will result in a catastrophic loss of coolant as the water flashes into steam. That is why conventional reactors require massive containment vessels. They are there to contain the steam not the fuel. Of course once the water is gone the solid fuel will melt, release hydrogen gas and probably result in a hydrogen explosion (like the ones at Fukushima)
The way around this is to cool the reactor with molten salt, and leave the water out. Molten salt melts at 400 Deg C, and remains liquid up to 1500 Deg C. This provides a huge liquid range for operations and eliminates the need for pressurization. Alvin Weinberg, the inventor of the pressurized water reactor argued against large water cooled reactors as being fundamentally unsafe (he lost his job over this). What Dr. Weinberg favored was the use of molten salt and liquid fuel for reactors. These are the reactors that can supply carbon free energy for electricity and industry for an indefinite future. BUT we have to build them, which we can do. Please contact you local public utilities commission and request that they include advanced nuclear reactors in their future energy plans.
You can also read our white paper on Thorium at http://www.aquacraft.com/thorium-briefing-paper-20170510/
Cheers.
