8 Grams of Thorium equals 300,000 miles in your car

Thorium lasers: The thoroughly plausible idea for nuclear cars

Thorium, a silvery-white metal, is a mildly radioactive element (with an atomic weight of 90) that is as abundant as lead. It is present in large quantities in India and is a much-touted stand in for uranium in nuclear reactors because its fission is not self-sustaining, a type of reaction called “sub-critical.”
The idea has energized the small but active thorium community, which holds that it is the answer to our clean energy needs because it could, effectively, power a car forever. The new technology “would be totally emissions-free,” Stevens said, “with no need for recharging.”
Laser Heating
The LPS power plant, for all its whiz-bang properties, isn’t a complete departure from traditional power generation: the thorium is lased and the resulting heat flashes a fluid and creates pressurized steam inside a closed-loop system. The steam then drives a turbine that turns an electric generator.
A 250-kilowatt unit (equivalent to about 335 horsepower) weighing about 500 pounds would be small and light enough to put under the hood of a car, Stevens claims. And because a gram of thorium has the equivalent potential energy content of 7,500 gallons of gasoline, LPS calculates that using just 8 grams of thorium in the unit could power an average car for 5,000 hours, or about 300,000 miles of normal driving. end quote from webpage listed below

http://www.txchnologist.com/2011/the-thorium-laser-the-completely-plausible-idea-for-nuclear-cars

So, if this actually works we can expect 300,000 miles on 8 grams of thorium to power cars in the future? Though I hope it actually works, I wonder what one does with the thorium after the vehicle is finished being powered by it? Is it safe to throw away in a trash can? Does it need a special container to protect the public from it? Is it safe to drive in a Thorium powered car if it gets into an accident? For example, remember all the early Prius and other Hybrid owners who were electrocuted to death until they installed disconnect switches easily reached by police and firemen. So, even if this all works there has to be ways to protect the public and riders from direct exposure to Thorium.