Taylor Wilson: My radical plan for small nuclear fission reactors

Taylor Wilson was 14 when he built a nuclear fusion reactor in his parents' garage. Now 19, he returns to the TED stage to present a new take on an old topic: fission. Wilson, who has won backing to create a company to realize his vision, explains why he's so excited about his innovative design for small modular fission reactors -- and why it could be the next big step in solving the global energy crisis.
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[@jakestockton4808]

This isn't a new idea. Molten Salt Breeder Reactors (MSBR) are nothing new. This very concept was created in the 1950s because of the government's desire to create a nuclear powered bomber. This was a fantastic method of preventing meltdowns because salts can tolerate much higher temperatures and they don't expand until 1000c. The expansion actually cools the salts, so it's almost impossible to make a MSBR go super critical. Unfortunately, lobbying for the Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor won over with government officials. The government's major concern with MSBRs is that the salts tend to have a corrosive effect on the cooling pipes. A ridiculous argument considering that beryllium neutralizes the salt's corrosive effects. Regardless of this system's failed history, it would be fantastic to see a comeback of this system.

[@Khaliddhali]

while watching the video I was confused! though Nuclear Physics ain't my major! I thought, how come the idea is brand new! Thanks for explaining *****

[@darkoneforce2]

***** Various composites could fix that without beryllium.

[@jakestockton4808]

AMVM Awesome! I don't think I've ever had the pleasure of chatting with a chemist before. What are some of the other elements that could be used that are cheaper or that work better?

[@darkoneforce2]

***** I'm not a chemist. What I know comes from other of dealing with corrosion in various situations. I know of various composites (reinforced with (pre-ceramic) polymers), polymers and of coating/paints/sprays containing these exotic polymers that are good against corrosion and the good old chrome lining used in rifles (on bolts and recently on barrels) to deal corrosion since at lest WWII. Of course I never said these solutions were cheap or don't have disadvantages.

[@samuelduncan9831]

Thank you Jake. Very well put, if anyone that deserves credit for the molten salt design. it would go to Alvin Weinberg

[@KevinWilliams]

This young man needs a team whose sole mission in life is to remove obstacles from his path.

[@argylewarrior1]

But overcoming obstacles is what makes him so special.

[@lavrentievv]

There are pleanty of armed anarcho-capitalist groups already.

[@auhunter04]

If you listened carefully, you will find he already has a team

[@MrTommyb1970]

I believe he means the everyday individual obstacles of life, so that this brilliant mind may focus on humanities obstacles and overcome them for us all.

[@N8sGames]

Tom Bayura yes this is what he meant. Let's start a go fund me to resource this team. 😺

[@namelesscynic1616]

This technology is not new but was dumped because fission weapons got the $ for development. He is absolutely correct, we need to scale down nuclear weapons and expand non threatening nuclear fission using thorium molten salt reactors.

[@CHURCHISAWESUM]

And keep researching nuclear fusion. Cleaner and 100x the energy generation

[@phillipjones3439]

There is a world of difference between a Nuclear bomb and a continuous power reactor. Why Thorium though its very rare. Sad though that as you say mega bucks are available for destruction.

[@StephenMannUSA]

General Electric proposed almost exactly this plan 60 years ago for small, neighborhood reactors buried in a vault.

[@phillipjones3439]

@@StephenMannUSA Indeed they did. But for some reason (physics) they carried it through.

[@barryrudolph9542]

@@CHURCHISAWESUM Fusion may not be practical because we don't seem to be able to get more power than we put in and maybe it's the same for the Stars in the universe. The force Gravity exerts on a Star to keep fusion going in it's core may be greater than the power that the Star produces. No free lunches in our universe.

[@georgedredla7599]

I'm 60 years old. I do feel better knowing that there are people like Taylor that will save and change the world. Be safe

[@jerryaaronson7061]

When people make SciFi movies about the future and all the wonderful technologies we will have most forget to factor in the greed of those in control of the markets and what gets to make it to market. I was excited about him when I first heard of his ideas but am not convinced we will ever see most of his great ideas any time soon. When John Kanzius discovered that he could make saltwater burn (when he was experimenting with a device he designed to kill cancer) we all got really excited until he died from cancer he had and others took over, now it just sits in labs and very little has been done with it. Hopefully, for the sake of our grandchildren, things will change.

[@edgehodl4832]

well we still waiting for him change the world, 8 years later

[@hongjieyin1152]

Taylor Wilson is BANDIT LOWLIFE VERMIN SCUM

[@janicebartmess9950]

I am almost speechlessly in complete awe of this young man! Bravo, Taylor!

[@nickynada-btc]

Im a little lost. To me it sounds like he's describing Molten Salt Reactor designed decades ago. I'm not exactly sure what he's claiming he invented or designed.

[@totoritko]

He mostly is describing an MSR, yes. The difference is that he advocates for using downblended weapons material and skipping the reprocessing stage entirely (or perhaps doing reprocessing in-situ by using a single-fluid design). This gets around the calandria and proliferation problem of the two-fluid LFTR design, but poses some interesting challenges then at the end of the lifetime of such a power plant (mostly due to transuranic buildup, though these could then be destroyed in a fast reactor).

[@primo2296]

. . . English

[@emzee1148]

TheSevil it's nuclear physics you dumb animal, why would it be simple?

[@davindeptuck7905]

Even if he did design something that's already been designed, it still can be his own idea. Somebody somewhere can have an idea, and somebody somewhere else can have that same idea afterwards; it doesn't mean he stole the idea.

[@offilawnoone9020]

This means that he is poorly educated. Most "tv-pop" scientists are useless in real science. Real scientists, such as Newton or Einstein, studied everything that was achieved in their time, and then offered their ideas.

[@georgelza]

... so this was recorded 6 yrs ago, what has happened since this happened.

[@nrsrymj]

WAMSRs have been shown to be balderdash.

[@gregweatherly7793]

@@nrsrymj lol wut

[@nrsrymj]

@@gregweatherly7793 I'll tell you wuts wut Waste annihilating molten salt reactors have been shown to be balderdash. At best, they are far more difficult and expensive to build than Taylor Wilson or the Now defunct Transatomic thought. This explains why Mr Wilson has faded into obscurity with nothing to show for the five year plan he promised in this six year old video. That's wut

[@gregweatherly7793]

@@nrsrymj had to google balderdash and wamsr. Cool word. Wamsr seem worth pursuing even though they are only 41.6% efficient in perfect order......we have to get rid of all that waste somehow right? Even at an energy loss, this seems better than burying it and hoping no one digs it up in 1000 years.

[@nrsrymj]

@@gregweatherly7793 Thanks for the reply and yes that is a great word. As for the waste. Acknowledging it's potential inherent danger as radioactive material, the fact is that all the nuclear waste We have produced would cover a football field 20 meters high. It is entirely manageable to simply store it in remote areas. I hope people still try to improve the wamsr model. Perhaps balderdash istge wrong word, as I'm not saying it's impossible, I'm saying that it is WAY harder than Wilson and Transatomic thought, thus their failure to deliver in five years. I'm more partial to a thorium based nuclear program, and of course the ultimate goal is nuclear fusion power, which is even harder than WAMSR but will be the greatest achievement of mankind. We need a new nuclear renaissance as it is the only source with the energy density to get us off fossil fuels asap while meeting the ever-growing demand for electricity

[@josephyoudontneedtoknowmyl1836]

He must be the Universe’s way of correcting the fact that most of us are as dumb as a box of rocks.

[@deeznutssons2807]

Well put! Haha.

[@toymangamer121]

why would you say that about a box of rocks

[@matrixresetinprogress]

Its masonry. Thats all. Just masonic bullshit...

[@amphibiousone7972]

This guy is great! Yes the basic concepts have been banging around since the early 1950s, but he is offering some new ideas into the old model. I think his ideas are wonderfully refreshing. Compact self contained reactors, deployable with relative ease. A potentially great fill for the time delay gap, as Fusion Power is developed. I wish him much success. 👍

[@VaporHausDundee]

I've long been a proponent of Thorium/Salt Reactor technology but this sounds like an interesting twist to help eliminate weapons grade materials that are just sitting around waiting for a disaster. I'm assuming you'll team-up with Kirk Sornsen on this project, like you, he also was originally inspired by propulsion.

[@nicholausjamesjay83]

This is one of my all time favorite TED Talks. Also, the Joel Saliten one is good at well.

[@anonymousdevildog1406]

7 years later... still waiting.

[@ArtisticTomahawk]

10...

[@platostien189]

Keep on keeping on

[@WeatherScreport]

The US and it’s capitalist doesn’t invest in infrastructure much anymore. Taylor doesn’t have the money to build one of these. The US already made molten salt fission reactors at Oakridge before this kid’s parents were out of diapers

[@fancystardust7629]

I love this young man! Taylor Wilson you give this Grand mama much hope for the future you are amazing.

[@jitendratiwari6886]

Indian scientist already made a fast breader reactor in kalapakkam (Tamilnadu) which use burn uranium as a fuel when used with thorium. In INDIA we have 2/3 of world thorium as reserve. And in 2030 we will have 30 fast breader reactor. Not only this we will also share our technology to all the nation so that we ensure easy access to electricity on every corner in this earth.

[@phillipjones3439]

Thats fantastic, so in 2030 Tamilnadu will no longer need all the charity it absorbs.

[@Salvo900]

Phillip Jones ?

[@Mytubepalma101]

From Wiki "Originally planned to be commissioned in 2012, the construction of the reactor suffered from multiple delays. As of February 2019, criticality is planned to be achieved in 2020.[2]"...

[@nik1954]

Well then get it out to the world

[@amitchoudhury9632]

@@phillipjones3439 Charity? What charity?

[@stanleymcomber4844]

Thank you Taylor for joining the thorium reactor plan. I’ve been waiting for this push.

[@genevievemurphy7384]

I hope this young bloke has lots of protection around him. He is a super intellect and lots of people who are evil will not appreciate him as normal people would. He will change the world no doubt about it!

[@jordanwhisson5407]

His brilliant idea was thought up long before he was born

[@overtaxed3628]

It’s been 69 years since that kind of fusor was invented. The inventor knew it would never have a net energy output

[@thomas977]

That’s what he says in the first couple minutes

[@drgrey7026]

Big one's

[@Joel-ee4yh]

@@overtaxed3628 that's not necessarily a bad thing coz a couple of SMRs can be placed together and it can produce gigawatts worth of power

[@Mrtamal01]

i love this kid. and hopefully one day ill work with him with something like this.

[@fromscratch4109]

thank you, TED for always keeping me inspired about the future. what an amazing platform!

[@mikeavery4098]

I've been pushing this kind of idea for 20 years good luck in your endeavors Godspeed

[@adventureal977]

O MY GOD ... Absolutely Brilliant Young man.

[@kimokla3874]

done nothing for 7 yrs. why? sold out to oil lobby

[@TooTrue2]

This is an amazing discovery... this electricity thing... simply amazing. They say you can create light without a flame!!!

[@mikearmstrong1045]

You go taylor! Don't let anyone influence you negatively. Thank you ahead of time for all the things your doing to make the world a better place for myself and all my loved ones. THANKS.

[@janahilton9351]

Way to go Taylor. Im from Gurdon,AR just barely 30 minutes NE of Texarkana. Congratulations on the wonderful things you have planned for humanity. You are truly an inspiration.👍👍

[@ParaglidingManiac]

Everybody's standing up and clapping for him, but in the end - the world refuses to use such technology. Welcome to Earth!

[@ParaglidingManiac]

Words spread fast. This still hasn't been used.

[@OpenGL4ever]

I hope so. Unless you want make access to nuclear fuel easy for terrorist groups.

[@Wafflepudding]

Probably because these ideas are fucking terrible, and the people clapping for him haven't thought the implications of this one through. Doing literally nothing is still a better proposal than the public proliferation of massive amounts of small nuclear fission reactors around every major industrialized city in the world.

[@tomdobyns2062]

Para, That is simply based on the old nuclear technology and the uninformed campaign by environmentalists against anything nuclear. A handful of depleted uranium and thorium could provide enough energy to power an electric car for a lifetime, without green house gases and cheap enough to be free, or almost so, without any of the side effects of fossil fuels. Maybe President Trump can "adjust" this problem. It would also benefit the economy and reduce the cost of fossil fuel for other uses.

[@robertstv8045]

Agreed but I'd go with Nancy Pelosi or Moonbeam

[@jonhall152]

It is humbling as a 34 year old to look up to this young man.

[@smoothtriston6203]

+Jon Hall Or sad....

[@user-cn3xy2wv9j]

hi

[@Valhalla.Studio]

Smooth Triston, its only sad if you see it as some sort of competition, but if you see everyone on this planet as part of one team than this should make you feel better about the future and give more hope.

[@dankool688]

Every parents should show this to their kids.

[@occasionalenthusiastrobjon5066]

The bsc consulting group in the uk proposed small module reactors some years ago, is he building on the work?

[@tomsalam1]

As soon as this kid's company goes public, I'm buying as many shares as I can afford.

[@mexicoespanol3883]

tomsalam1 can you let me know if one day happen I would like to buy it too

[@clevername8832]

I thought the company made fission power modules? Lmao

[@Alexmatt5830]

Right?!

[@khankrum1]

Me too!

[@davidschmidt6013]

Me TOO!! I missed out on getting in on the ground floor of Microsoft, and Intel, but I won't miss this kid.

[@Hawtload]

it's 2019 now. what's Taylor been doing lately? do we have those fission reactors in the works yet?

[@dianabanana08]

google his name.

[@user-kn2qk8ly8c]

He’s dead.

[@NICEFINENEWROBOT]

@@user-kn2qk8ly8c Aged 69?

[@user-kn2qk8ly8c]

NICEFINENEWROBOT I think he was 49.

[@NICEFINENEWROBOT]

​@@user-kn2qk8ly8c Are we talking about the same guy? Taylor Wilson (Born may 7th, 1994 in Texarkana (Arkansas)

[@InsideThaJackalsHead]

With this young man humanity has a bright future.... Hope he sticks around long enough in life to make his wildest dreams come true.

[@tracyscott3261]

He is so happy and able to bring his vision down to the layman's understanding.

[@joedohn9727]

He needs to get his priorities right and work on building a reactor for the Iron Man suit.

[@A.C.71]

He's the kind of guy that's so damn smart he makes you feel stupid lol

[@CropTriangles]

What an exciting young man. Following his inventions with great interest.

[@scottyhughes9179]

Stay excited Taylor, please. This is amazing.

[@KimHenriksen.]

Wow!! 30 years without refueling is pretty good

[@drgrey7026]

For naval reactor it's pretty standard

[@leonesperanza3672]

Bill Gate's Terrapower claims 60 years without refueling and existing nuclear waste can be used.

[@FowlorTheRooster1990]

@@leonesperanza3672 the funny thing is most of the waste is recyclable and reactors can run on plutonium

[@larrylove1]

Yea my son is pretty smart

[@edwardcardozo8325]

@@FowlorTheRooster1990 France has doing that for decades tho lol

[@joko10004]

It is all nice and good I think he is very smart but molten salt reactor idea has been around for decades it just hasn't been realized yet. So he didn't invent this but I hope he can bring it forwards and make it happened.

[@ButtThuck]

He's well aware of this. In a Power Engineering article he states that this technology has been around since the 60s

[@davebusters]

Nice I graduated from Memphis state Universities Center of Nuclear studies in 1979. Went to work Carolina power an lights 2 unit BWR 4's and was then recruited to be on the startup team that started up Palaverty Nuclear Generating Stations 3 combustion engineering's series 70 1300MW plant for 16 years. I love your presentation! Wow keep going!

[@martinfederico7269]

He's really excited. Which is amazing.

[@gastonhamoline2750]

Taylor:: Watch yourself.Tesla had great ideas to help the world and proved it with his inventions.He was shut down by interests who wanted to run the economy to profit themselves. Their industries are polluting our world today.I am surprised you got this far with your projects. We need people like you with such an intelligent endowment. Gaston

[@Gytax0]

To the sceptics saying this guy is not really special (straight from Wikipedia's List of child prodigies): "Taylor Wilson (born 1994), nuclear scientist and engineer who built a bomb at age 10, and a nuclear fusion reactor at age 14. Improved nuclear technology and made a low-cost cherenhov particle detector at age 17, as well as winning the Intel Science Fair."

[@eduardgherasim2896]

Anybody can add info on Wikipedia... it is based on that... the kid might have written that about himself.

[@shriramvenu]

***** except this guy is known in the academic community. Also Wikipedia requires sources and the bots + community is good at weeding out crap. Feel free to check the listed sources if you dont trust the article itself.

[@markroberts852]

Made a bomb? Like a pipe bomb out of gunpowder? He didn’t build no nuclear weapon I guarantee you that.

[@madeline795]

I'm a fan for sure!!!

[@rickwhite4137]

Eduard Gherasim: People like you're those people who decelerate the evolution.

[@theinformationguys9391]

TED, TEDx and TEDed are very good sources for information on concepts and experiences.

[@chuckbryan4817]

Brilliant, and tremendously inspiring.

[@FrancoDFernando]

This kid gives me hope for the future and makes me want to do more to help out

[@axeburningfire2507]

gayporn

[@OpenGL4ever]

Yeah, this kid wants to make access to nuclear fuel possible for everyone. Terrorists will love his idea. His idea is not new, but the elders knew that they can't do it because to prevent others from building nukes you must control the nuclear fuel distribution because the distribution of knowledge can't be controlled. Here's a very informative video about the principles of nuclear weapons, watch it, than you will understand why nuclear fuel must be controlled and be kept inaccessible to individuals and small groups /watch?v=zVhQOhxb1Mc

[@frankwilson1545]

OpenGL4ever Why do u have to be so pessimistic. He said it's uranium waste that has been so downgraded that it is impossible to use for weapons. At least, appreciate bright ideas.

[@OpenGL4ever]

Frank Wilson Being naive is not an option here. And i am definitely not pessimistic but realistic. If you have the nuclear fuel to run a reactor you can also use it to breed plutonium in a breeder.

[@danmitchell6327]

+OpenGL4ever You need to get educated about the scientific facts behind the LFTR ( Liquid Flouride Thorium Reactor ) instead of going by mere ignorance and anti - nukes dogma. The LFTR is so radically different, you can't breed plutonium from it. To the contrary, it will burn - up and destroy most of the plutonium and nuclear waste. In fact, the LFTR was rejected by the government and the military decades ago for this very reason, not because the proven technology was impractical or didn't work. During the cold war, they wanted more plutonium for bombs instead of a safe nuclear reactor like the LFTR.

[@heinsteinvaldez2561]

Funny species we are. A young mind is trying to change the world in a positive way and hundreds jump to give their negative opinions. These are also some of the challenges great minds have to overcome before their ideas come to fruition. A modern example of this is E Musk, the same people who thought negative of his ideas when he started are kissing his behind for advise or help with their projects. Don’t spit up to the sky people, help young minds shine and help by clearing the path for them or move out of the way as they’re making the world better for all of us.

[@DJames-qw8rk]

Thank you, Heinstein, well said. Humans always holding back and resisting other humans, the great historical farce.

[@DeneSimpson]

Reminds me a bit of Tesla

[@pepsitwsit]

60 year old idea ...and it is not his design!

[@hmarillejla7]

@@pepsitwsit So what???

[@alaskanalain]

I said that about the first kid to do this, he got so much negativity, died in 2016 of alcoholism.

[@terrihunt1471]

he is the chosen one for me. There is a reason hes here and we should recognize what this means. Hope. Real hope. Keep sayin his name to your self and others. Miracles live here on this planet and he is just beginning . Taylor Wilson

[@bruceburger4576]

Taylor is a Genius & will have a Very Bright Future , in what ever he sets his mind to accomplish !!! Well Done Young Man !!!

[@charlestonhambrick1365]

How do I get a small version to bury in my back yard to supply power to my house for 30 years?

[@doritoification]

#radioactiveboyscout

[@kimokla3874]

make it yourself, he sold out to lobby oil and gas scum

[@ChannelJeffrey]

The biggest hurdle is of course the knee jerk reaction, "no nukes."

[@sojournsojourntraveler1203]

He is not the only one working on this and I am GLAD. The current design was developed in the 50 under a timeline that is very flawed. The safer design needs to be implemented SOON.

[@michael-edward2135]

Question, Taylor - - - Could your hypothesis be scaled down to an individual home application? Could a basement or sub-basement be built under a house, this unit you described, small enough for an individual homeowner to use to run the home's energy needs?

[@garciacontracting]

Very well prepared kid May God bless him

[@stone51462]

So Taylor seems to be talking about a Liquid Floride Thorium Reactor (LFTR, also called a "Lifter" for short) which has the benefits he talks about when the coolant is a molten salt, but what is his innovation? He talks about using a "super-critical" gas or Helium to turn a turbine. What advantage does that have over using steam to turn the turbine?

[@keithmyles4733]

Strange if you google Lockheed Martin, you'll see they are running a reactor with a gas on the turbine side ..and they were doing this in 2015 ..tested!! What I want to see is a 1 cubic metre box of 10 Kilowatts of power that will run my house for 52 years and be self contained. What they have to do is find a means outside of nuclear batteries which have limited capabilities to generate power via some form of radiation.. and get beyond gas, steam turbine ..

[@leratomuyakwabo6822]

Amazing young man it's a great discovery

[@Paul-gz5dp]

This kind of reactor would be a great idea, and an improvement on an old design that has previously been tested here in Southern California and New Mexico.

[@jimgriffiths9071]

Absolutely right on. Start making these things 24/7 and let's DO THIS!

[@tr1ck321]

When I start listening to a kid giving a talk I brace for either nonsense or plagiarism because that's usually where childhood ideas are derived. Mr. Wilson is brilliant enough to develop his own set of highly complex ideas, and he is socially intelligent enough to present those ideas in a interesting format (which is important for making this technology go places). I enjoyed the talk and I won't be surprised to see this guy doing big things in the future.

[@gKreator1]

No, this is plagiarized...

[@tr1ck321]

Gary B Lame :(

[@propelegant]

He said nothing new this technology has been around for decades invented and tested by Alvin Weinberg (he also invented the light water reactor for submarines not domestic power!). The shocking truth is that it works well and is inherently safe, simple design and has vast stocks of cheap fuel waiting to be used

[@teacherrandall6560]

Rx seems to be a gimick to get people to share the idea (I'm guessing). everything he said about his design is being said by other older engineers who have been pushing the idea for much longer (as mentioned by Paul Steele).

[@iii-ei5cv]

Fukushima showed a couple of issues: 1) Don't place your backup station beneath the flood plain in an area susceptible to tsunamis 2) (Probably most important) : current reactor designs use high pressure steam, which is what caused the problems at Chernobyl and Fukushima. Molten salt reactors, which is what he is presenting here, don't use high pressure steam, are more efficient, and have a built in "shut-off" in that in the heat can be expelled from a reactor passively (instead of needing valves to be opened, which was the problem at Fukushima because the system lost power) by letting the "freeze plug" melt

[@willowfox6632]

Absolutely brilliant!

[@DecimalZer0]

Love this idea! ❤

[@MrRB-qk8cl]

I don't understand why the masses aren't doing more to back up ingenious people such as this young man. He could be using his knowledge to fill his own pockets but instead of doing that he's dedicating his time and energy creating solutions and ways to make our world a better place and improve everyone else's life. And not just talking about it. If the world enables him and provide him with the means to make what he just presented a reality. It would help reduce global warming, and fix a lot of the damage already created due false solutions created by other people before him who did not have the world's best interest in mind and enable us to move forward without doing further damage to our planet, not to mention the other ways his idea could probably help enable others working on different issues we are dealing with today. [ UNITED WE STAND👆ALONE WE FALL 👇]

[@stephenhargrave7922]

Although, that lemming attitude is usually the motivating force behind such wonders as concentration camps nuclear holocaust and illegal wars

[@stephenhargrave7922]

Rather than globalizing energy for one man to make all the money off a singular energy source, each individual could have their own private energy source i.e water solar thermo wibd hydro any of the other sources that don't potentially lead to catastrophe. Unfortunately they will never make such technology affordable because it doesn't like their pockets

[@Andrewlohbihler]

Maybe he will hire Kirk Sorensen as his PR man. Everything this kid talked about is exactly the LFTR or MSBR reactor design that Kirk is promoting.

[@daleval2182]

Yeah it a hundred year old Tesla design, people just like cute kids, whatever it takes to get us to cheap clean power, I'll play along

[@anhedonianepiphany5588]

@@daleval2182 Are you _actually_ stupid enough to believe that Tesla was involved with _anything_ even related to nuclear fission, let alone reactor design?!? Nuclear fission was only discovered at the end of 1938, roughly 4 years before Tesla died at the age of 86. You can't honour Tesla if you're ignorant of his work!

[@trevorkoskela6954]

My mom is working with then young man, Can't give you much more than that since the project is best kept under wraps.

[@nobodysfool6854]

Fantastic Taylor! Good luck mate! A talented young man!

[@whatthefunction9140]

This reactor type has been know for almost 100 years. But if it takes a kid to make it sound new, great. Thorium is much better than uranium.

[@OpenGL4ever]

The elders don't build it because it has a BIG flaw. The flaw is called "no control over nuclear material". But control over nuclear material is needed to prevent small groups from building nukes.

[@stevegarcia3731]

You are ill-informed. Three nations tried using U-233 for nukes. After trying it, they all ran away from it. U-233's radiation (actually the U-232 that accompanies it) screws up the electronics relatively quickly, so you simply cannot put missiles anywhere, even in underground silos, because they are likely to blow up in your own territory. NOT a good result. U-233's radiation also bleeds out, making it supremely easy to detect. Also not a good thing. U-233 bombs will never be made again. It is too dangerous.

[@urduib]

We already had a Thorium salt reactor running 21000 hours with no problems in the start of the 70´s . Thorium is the biggest gift the Universe could ever give us. So ofc Governments ignore it. China have a MASSIVE thorium program. They are working on 2 designs and very soon they will prototype the first design. Also Oak Ridge America is building a test Thorium reactor. Thorium is the solution to basically all our short term problems

[@jamieingels1190]

I don't care who came up with it first.... This kid is actually going to see that it gets put to use.. That's what we need.

[@urduib]

Jamie Ingels - Good point. If this kid can make molten salt reactor sexy i will certainly not argue against it. But did he mention Thorium in his speech ? can´t remember. He said 600-700 degree Celsius and that sounds like Thorium. American Government hate Thorium because Uranium power distributors own the Government through the legal corruption/bribery system in America. When Kirk Sorensen group wanted to pay the bill for getting Thorium data acknowledged by Us Administration under Obama, they were told that would be to expensive so they refused. Imagine i give you 8000 dollars, and you refuse with the reason that 8000 free dollars is to expensive. That is the prof that Us Government works against free and green energy, on behalf of oil and Uranium. China will 100% own the future of energy production and distribution. A thorium program only cost 10 billion dollars. With the potential of earning infinite quadrillions back

[@pepecohetes492]

Best of luck to him; humanity needs more people like this young man!

[@trumpeytoes7450]

yeah the world needs more delusional kids

[@MrRRHHMM]

This young man, could change the world, very very much for the better..... He's quite remarkable....... a True Prodigy.......

[@barbarbarbar2]

In the beginning of the talkWhen he said he had done well it rang my alarm bell.

[@612Tiberius]

To all who are highly intrigued by this teen-aged prodigy (as I am) I urge you to read, via Google, the Popular Science magazine article of February 2012 that goes into his history as a budding scientist, and his creating his own nuclear fusion reactor, through his own perseverance and extensive collaboration with some of the top scientists and facilities in the country. His is absolutely a person to keep an eye on in the near future (and beyond) in his field of study, on the level of any top technological innovator you can name of the past fifty years or more. He is what all High School, College, and Post-Graduate students should be aspiring toward and emulating - not evermore ubiquitous future M.B.A.s and selfish short-term-gain-minded would-be Wall Street drones. I hope he exceeds all his future goals, to the benefit of all society.

[@dontquestionmyname5490]

i agree, i have seen kids with 1.8 GPA but still have full scholarship because they are good football/basketball players. Meanwhile, a girl with 4.2 GPA got a scholarship that not even close

[@maxjohnston402]

Truth: Growing up poor but with a knack for taking tests I got scholarships, deciding on UCLA-Physics (at the last minute REJECTING "USC SKOLARSHIP" ;-). Regret not being able to enjoy college and ending up working for a retired "ex-Military Brat" who, surprise-surprise had 'awarded' the contract to my Aerospace Co... and got a high paying job with my Co. as my manager! Early in my career I was on committees that built the standards for computer interoperations (internet/intranet are examples - and no, Vice President Al Gore never came to any of our meetings, which really just had 2 of us designing the standard and a dozen+ enjoying the company paid travel to conferences in different parts of the country ;-!)

[@King_Flippy_Nips]

@HEAV¥HAND thats because the ncaa exploits those athletes and makes billions a year and the schools get kickbacks and the players have incredible restrictions put upon them and get nothing except potential career ending injuries or incredible stress and they have no time to actually learn anything in case they dont get a pro career and their scholarships barely give them enough money to eat properly, and then there is the problem of dirty coaches and administrators selling entry to schools that just got brought up in the news

[@kickinrocks6055]

But everyone is claiming his reactor was invented in the 50s. If he was legit, i would assume he gives a breif history lesson, then explains he invented a way to overcome failures from the past. But he claims he invented this ideas, and wants to sell it. Sounds like the latter of the types of people you mentioned.

[@DSBeholder]

@@kickinrocks6055 finally someone asks the question...what do you think has and will happen again most likely and why?

[@MrSuperBrite]

I hope Taylor gets to go space. I also hope Taylor is a down to Earth kind of guy.

[@trickysubject8563]

What an incredible young man he is. Help this guy.

[@weirdscience8341]

Im in awe of this dude he hasn't even got to the age were he's mastered the science of shaving but good god he knows his stuff keep it up dude hope your rather high reaching ambition is a really big success

[@gloriarogers9509]

He speaks free flow which means he knows ,genius !

[@ExploreLearnEnglishWithGeorge]

Well, it's 2019 (6 years on) and it seems like his largest accomplishments include this ted talk and some home tinkering.

[@towoawawaboofficial]

America doesn't spend on its citizen unless the 1% benefits or control every bit of your creation

[@gracialonignasiver6302]

@@anthonybanayat9841 Like what? Provide lists and sources, because I've googled him and can't find anything outside of him working with some company called Helena that attempts to solve world problems.

[@samiloom8565]

Hehehe like max loughan who turned to solve madella effect problem :)))))

[@johnbach2075]

What have you done or accomplished in your life for humanity

[@nrsrymj]

@@johnbach2075 Don't be fresh, this is a legitimate question. The answer is that WAMSRs have been shown to be bullshit.

[@CUBETechie]

Hope it will be the technology for the moon missions and then Mars. So how big would be the reactor for 50MW and how much fuel would be used? Can we use waste from the nuclear powerplants?

[@robertberger8981]

His knowledge comes from a spirit who needs him hopefully it is a good spirit

[@Valhalla.Studio]

Nothing wrong with taking something that's already been done before and making it a little better or just explaining why its better to make it more popular. Why so many salty people in the comments? what were you all doing at 14 I wonder? Personally I mostly played video games lol :(

[@lostintime8651]

played rock music in a band

[@mcole1987]

excuse the pun

[@brunovincent1969]

Salty comments because the kid sounds like a used car salesman, something fake and creepy about him...not genuine...! ;)

[@migueloropeza6352]

Looking and. Chasing girls!

[@bocckoka]

trying to sell stolen ideas as your own is disgusting. that's why people are salty.

[@miiiikku]

I get the impression that lot of amazing technology on Ted talks could not exist, if it could, they would implement it already.

[@sam-te1fu]

miiiikku guess what, you just used 'amazing technology' to post your idiotic comment

[@miiiikku]

sam spin No, my computer is powered by regular second generation light water nuclear reactor.

[@oraz.]

It's not a fault of the technology, but the politics and economics that go into implementing it.

[@tonywoodham7362]

Just AWESOME what a smart modest young man

[@rayperez4825]

This fascinating love it

[@asmrtalkinganimalshypnotiz3239]

Build a scaled down version 1st

[@mattmiller5215]

I love it.........We "the United States" new this a long time ago.....But now the new gens are going to bring it back in the form of energy....not a weapon......The sun is rising in the west........

[@joeyydesp3514]

Knowing how to control the earth magnetic feild should be more important to be able to enjoy Taylors good work.

[@jackjones513]

Outstanding

[@tomw4643]

Like a lot of young people, he is amazed at his own discovery of aspects of science that have been known among scientists for a long time. His design is innovative because he put it underground but the rest of the design is well known and has been for years. We have been calling these designs Gen III and Gen IV and Gen V reactor designs. He will do well in science but this is not as innovative as he or TED thinks.

[@7kudos]

Although... you could look at it as an innovative politic circus. Something to get people's perspective to change. Thus, fusion reactors designs are very old, the only problem is that he opens it up to public not to the private sector. Where it's easy to navigate.

[@scottn7cy]

These kind of talks are fun but they feel like scientific fast food

[@doodelay]

Great analogy

[@ristube3319]

Is there a follow up? This video is from 2013, which is nearly 6 years ago. Was one built?

[@nemojosh1954]

brilliant idea

[@rynomadman1]

This kid seems to have watched all the same KZbin videos I have. who do I need to talk to about getting on one of these Ted talks? I'm ready to show the would my drawings of a small box that will change the world that i just came up with all on my own.

[@samiloom8565]

Yeah true ..i am fedup from all this trend of youngsters genius game changers impacters on the world and that BS i didnt see anyhhing except basics from eikipedia abd youtube

[@TheWiniarss]

yeah, he drew the box underground and thought it's gamechanging because it is underground

[@asianassassin5082]

Except for the fact that this kid built a actual true working nuclear reactor at 14 in his parents garage so give the dude some credit

[@alwaysnothingbutthetruth2032]

He did not build it in the garage, it was built at Arizona Univ

[@l00klikea]

I assume you also achieved fission at the age of 14 in your garage? Oh right, you did not and are just a loudmouth who massively underestimates the amount of effort this guy has put into educating himself about this topic, more than a dumbed down 12 minute talk could show. Next time think before you talk.

[@Nonotkidding]

Yes, Thorium salt reactors !

[@thatoneneeko2131]

Is it bad that when someone says molten salt it reminds me of torbjorn from overwatch.

[@hamobu]

How do you exchange heat underground? And since the thing is under ground it will flood during rainfall and if that gets in contact with radioactive salt it will dissolve and contaminate the ground water. Not only that, but since water is a moderator, his passive fail safe may not worth and you could end up with runaway reaction.

[@rockon7848]

The unit is sealed at the factory and doesn't need to be refueled for 30 years so you can put it underground for security without water getting involved.

[@GlobebackyardBlogspotTV]

Taylor became the 32nd individual on the planet to achieve a nuclear-fusion reaction. Just read his life story at Popular Science 'The Boy Who Played with Fusion' The young lad creates the bomb-sniffing application in which Intel CEO Paul Otellini mentions in a conversation, "All I could think was, I am so glad that kid is on our side."

[@larryvaughn5843]

What happened to the first 32 individuals?

[@peters972]

@@larryvaughn5843 you mean 31 individuals, this one is fine... :-)

[@metalmogul4691]

He cannot be a flash in the pan, he must push his ideas continuously to be taken seriously. The novelty of his age must wear off before his plans will take hold. People are always suspicious of young minds and their lack of experience.

[@TheKingkingg]

Super awesome Tedtalk, awesome Tylor Wilson... please continue to help solve More of our human problems, but please don't let them do to you like they did to Tesla and so many others that meant well but others turn it into a way to control and make huge profits. Thank you.

[@abdulrahmanbinabdullah970]

Wonderful presentation.....

[@123kkambiz]

What a incredible young man, hope his ideas could be implemented in near future.

[@michaelobrien5910]

A small cheap reactor that lasts for 30 years? Every other person on earth in the last 100 years who has tried something like this either met an early grave or their technology didn't see the light of day. (think Nikola Tesla) Lord, please keep this boy safe.

[@sonofsun4]

Yes, indeed.... I see a dead young man, who suffers depressions and out of blue shoots himself several times in the back of his head or something similar....

[@taylorj6177]

Care to name a few of those you're referring to?

[@robthom09]

Taylor,, Good point. I just retired after working 35 years in energy automation. We had many projects, saving huge amounts of energy via installation of new equipment and optimized engineering / programming. Often large projects are "guaranteed savings". I'm 62 and actually most everyone I know has lived a long life. They people who "disappear" are normally experimenters with measurement errors.. They begin taking money and then have no way out,

[@captainamerica4526]

You are right

[@alaskanalain]

If not for people like this we would have nothing!

[@ehook14]

Amazing mind! We all have a lot to learn from him!

[@rodneymahair8707]

The sodium reactors back in the day were high pressure what he is doing is a low pressure system. I would love to see that go world wide plus it would use up all the dump sights making the planet better.