Thorium-fueled nuclear reactors - Pros and cons?

“Some nuclear scientists propose switching from uranium-based reactors to ones fueled by cheaper, safer thorium. Thorium-fueled reactors are supposed to be much safer than uranium-powered ones, use far less material (1 metric ton of thorium gets as much bang as 200 metric tons of uranium, or 3.5 million metric tons of coal), produce waste that is toxic for a shorter period of time (300 years vs. uranium’s tens of thousands of years), and is hard to weaponize. But it will take a lot of money to develop a new generation of thorium-fueled reactors. China is taking the lead in picking up the thread, building on plans developed and abandoned in Europe.”

http://theweek.com/article/index/213611/could-thorium-make-nuclear-power-safe

Any opinions?