Nuclear Power from Thorium?

Just found this article from the guardian which describes China's recent move to develop a prototype reactor that runs on thorium instead of uranium. This would be big news if they managed to get one going because thorium is more widespread across the globe and in greater quantities than uranium (about 3 to 4 times as much). The waste from thorium would theoretically only last decades instead of millennia.

Here's the link:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2011/feb/16/china-nuclear-thorium