ADS (Accelerator Driven Systems) technology: solution for transforming spent nuclear fuel and using thorium as nuclear fuel

ADS (Accelerator Driven Systems) technology: solution for transforming spent nuclear fuel and using thorium as nuclear fuel: http://www.symmetrymagazine.org/cms/?pid=1000907 ... "A powerful enough accelerator could generate a beam of particles to help transform spent nuclear fuel into a re-useable form. It could reduce the time required for long-term geological storage from 300,000 years to 500 years. And it could use an abundant natural resource, thorium, as a safer, cleaner, more proliferation-resistant fuel for energy production in nuclear reactors.
Recent advances in accelerator technology could make this concept, called Accelerator Driven Systems or ADS, a reality in the relatively near future. While countries in Asia and Europe are actively pursuing its applications and building demonstration facilities, however, the United States does not have an active ADS program. Accelerator and nuclear physicists and engineers are pushing for this to change. "A lot of technologies, including ADS, have been proposed to try to resolve the [nuclear] waste issue," says Albert Machiels, a technical executive at the Electric Power Research Institute, a non-profit company that conducts research and development for all things related to electricity.
"To demonstrate its viability at a scale necessary to make a significant impact will require sustained R&D for long periods of time," he says."