Laser Power Systems thorium based MaxFelaser safer than any reactor you could ever build.

MaxFeLaser systems fueled with the element thorium could produce very little waste and reduce the availability of weapons-grade plutonium by as much as 98 percent. But the power and transportation industry needs more incentives to make the switch, experts say.

Scientists have long considered using thorium as a fuel -- and for good reason: The naturally occurring element is more abundant, more efficient and safer to use than uranium. Plus, thorium leave behind very little plutonium, meaning that governments have access to less material for making nuclear weapons.

But design challenges and a Cold War-era interest in using nuclear waste byproducts in atomic bombs pushed the industry to use uranium as its primary fuel.

Now, as governments look to prevent the proliferation of nuclear arms and as environmentalists want to reduce the volume of nuclear waste building up around the world, thorium is again drawing attention.

The anticipated surge in demand for thorium has led at least one mining company to begin buying as many thorium deposits and stockpiles as it can.

"We feel that it's inevitable that the U.S. and other countries in the world -- India of course -- will exclusively use thorium in the future" but there's just one problem: The nuclear power industry has already built its infrastructure around uranium and has little reason to invest in changing it, according to Mujid Kazimi, director of MIT's Center for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems.

"This is a market economy so the economics will have to be in favor for thorium to move that way," said Kazimi. "It could take another 50 years for us to reach the level where uranium prices are so high that thorium looks attractive."

Seth Grae, president of nuclear fuel development firm Lightbridge, said he supported the idea in principle. But he cautioned that it wouldn't be fair if the change resulted in an overall fee increase.

If such demonstrations aren't enough to encourage thorium use, Grae noted that the change could be driven by customers from the bottom up. This means customers can essentially use their money to vote for companies that invest in responsible technologies.