I doubt the engineers of this future would be foolish enough to make and sell a car to the public unless its safe. And if this wth car is not practical enough, i think scientist could still use thorium as a more stable fuel for nuclear reactors.
from (wikipedia.org/thorium/) "Thorium as a nuclear fuel Main article: Thorium fuel cycle Thorium, as well as uranium and plutonium, can be used as fuel in a nuclear reactor. Although not fissile itself, 232Th will absorb slow neutrons to produce 233U, which is fissile. Hence, like 238U, it is fertile. Theoretically thorium is more suitable fuel source than uranium: thorium is about 550 times more abundant in nature than uranium-235, potentially all of thorium fuel can be usefully burned in nuclear fission (current state of the art uranium based reactors burn only about 1-2% of fuel), thorium is fairly evenly spread around Earth with a lot of countries having huge supplies of it, thorium fuel cycle creates mainly Uranium-233 contaminated with Uranium-232 which makes it ill suited to weapons proliferation.
Problems include the high cost of fuel fabrication due partly to the high radioactivity of 233U which is a result of its contamination with traces of the short-lived 232U; the similar problems in recycling thorium due to highly radioactive 228Th; some weapons proliferation risk of 233U; and the technical problems (not yet satisfactorily solved) in reprocessing. Much development work is still required before the thorium fuel cycle can be commercialised, and the effort required seems unlikely while (or where) abundant uranium is available.
Nevertheless, the thorium fuel cycle, with its potential for breeding fuel without fast neutron reactors, holds considerable potential long-term benefits. Thorium is significantly more abundant than uranium, and is a key factor in sustainable nuclear energy. ^^Perhaps more importantly, thorium produces several orders of magnitude less long-lived radioactive waste.^^...."
i think scientist could still use thorium as a more stable fuel for nuclear reactors.
from (wikipedia.org/thorium/)
"Thorium as a nuclear fuel
Main article: Thorium fuel cycle
Thorium, as well as uranium and plutonium, can be used as fuel in a nuclear reactor. Although not fissile itself, 232Th will absorb slow neutrons to produce 233U, which is fissile. Hence, like 238U, it is fertile. Theoretically thorium is more suitable fuel source than uranium: thorium is about 550 times more abundant in nature than uranium-235, potentially all of thorium fuel can be usefully burned in nuclear fission (current state of the art uranium based reactors burn only about 1-2% of fuel), thorium is fairly evenly spread around Earth with a lot of countries having huge supplies of it, thorium fuel cycle creates mainly Uranium-233 contaminated with Uranium-232 which makes it ill suited to weapons proliferation.
Problems include the high cost of fuel fabrication due partly to the high radioactivity of 233U which is a result of its contamination with traces of the short-lived 232U; the similar problems in recycling thorium due to highly radioactive 228Th; some weapons proliferation risk of 233U; and the technical problems (not yet satisfactorily solved) in reprocessing. Much development work is still required before the thorium fuel cycle can be commercialised, and the effort required seems unlikely while (or where) abundant uranium is available.
Nevertheless, the thorium fuel cycle, with its potential for breeding fuel without fast neutron reactors, holds considerable potential long-term benefits. Thorium is significantly more abundant than uranium, and is a key factor in sustainable nuclear energy. ^^Perhaps more importantly, thorium produces several orders of magnitude less long-lived radioactive waste.^^...."