Gary Krellenstein is one of those people. This former JP Morgan Energy and Environment Director penned a report calling thorium “The Best, Most Overlooked Solution to Global Warming and Long-Term Energy Supply.”

He’s quick to trumpet the benefits of thorium, especially compared to uranium (most of which we’ve discussed before) but also provides a perspective on some of thorium’s disadvantages, which include:

High capital costs ($4000-$10,000/kW) Little existing infrastructure, no commercially operating plants Long lead times (estimated at over 10 years) and licensing issues The bad reputation of nuclear energy, due to meltdowns at Chernobyl and Fukushima