Plutonium is a breeder product of uranium, not thorium
U238 + neutron tends to end up as PU239 IIRC.
"The thorium fuel cycle is a nuclear fuel cycle that uses the isotope of thorium, 232Th, as the fertile material. In the reactor, 232Th is transmuted into the fissile artificial uranium isotope 233U which is the nuclear fuel. Unlike natural uranium, natural thorium contains only trace amounts of fissile material (such as 231Th), which are insufficient to initiate a nuclear chain reaction. Additional fissile material or another neutron source are necessary to initiate the fuel cycle. In a thorium-fueled reactor, 232Th absorbs neutrons eventually to produce 233U. This parallels the process in uranium breeder reactors whereby fertile 238U absorbs neutrons to form fissile 239Pu. Depending on the design of the reactor and fuel cycle, the generated 233U either fissions in situ or is chemically separated from the used nuclear fuel and formed into new nuclear fuel."
However if you leave the U232/233 under heavy neutron bombardment SOME plutonium gets bred.
Not very far. Nuclear power plants need to leap massive regulatory hurdles. Even if you could build a prototype for $50m it would take ten times that to be allowed to make it.
Wouldn't we all, but I doubt we are in the majority.
Its a good idea - the small modular reactor is the thing that promises to reduce regulatory costs, and if type approval and mass production works, then the sorts of figures they are quoting are realistic.