Energy From Thorium Discussion Forum

Best regards,

Dr. Honzik, Ph.D.

(Of course, I used my real name instead of my EfT name...)

I agree. Sections 4 and 6 sound like an oblique reference to the properties of an MSR.

What? That is not your name, Dr.!

Congress finds that—
(1) the United States and foreign countries will require massive and increasing quantities of energy during the 20-year period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act to support economic growth;

(2) nuclear power provides energy without generating unacceptable quantities of greenhouse gasses;

(3) thorium is the only abundant nuclear fuel that can be used completely in a safe, thermal-neutron-spectrum reactor;

(4) the generation of nuclear power in the United States and many foreign countries has been discouraged by concerns regarding—(A) the proliferation of weapons-usable material; and (B) the proper disposal of spent nuclear fuel;

(5) nuclear power plants operating on an advanced thorium fuel cycle to generate nuclear energy create a nuclear byproduct (uranium-232) whose decay makes the fuel of a thorium cycle reactor unsuitable for use in nuclear weapons;

(6) this byproduct also make conventional fabrication of solid nuclear fuel elements difficult and uneconomical for current solid-core reactors;

(7) this aspect of thorium use led early nuclear experts such as Eugene Wigner and Alvin Weinberg to propose the use of thorium in liquid-fueled reactors where fuel fabrication was unnecessary;

(8) these liquid-fueled reactors were originally developed in the United States by Oak Ridge National Laboratory and demonstrated to be safe and effective, but national priorites at the time did not advance their development;

(9) those national priorities are now significantly different and liquid-fueled thorium reactors can achieve national goals of—(A) long-term energy independence; (B) resistance to nuclear proliferation; and (C) near-elimination of nuclear waste requiring geologic disposal;

(10)(A) thorium is more abundant than uranium; and (B) the United States possesses significant domestic quantities of thorium to ensure energy independence;

(11) it is in the national security and foreign policy interest of the United States that foreign countries seeking to establish or expand generation and use of nuclear power should be provided—(A) access to advanced thorium fuel cycle technology; and (B) incentives to reduce the risk of nuclear proliferation.

This bill is a remarkable start towards the utilization of thorium as a planetary energy source, but to truly accomplish the intention expressed in its title (Energy Independence) I believe that the language needs to be unambiguously oriented towards fluid-fueled reactors rather that solid-core oxide reactors. Those solid-core reactors simply will not be able to use thorium economically or efficiently enough to achieve energy independence. Liquid-fluoride reactors could, if they were developed.

Along those lines, here would be my suggested modifications in the "Findings" section:



Comments, suggestions?

Passage of the so-called Thorium Energy Independence and Security Act of 2008 would provide $250 million over five years to create a new oversight arm under the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Department of Energy. The legislation calls for the eventual regulation of domestic thorium nuclear-power generation.

Folks, in a legislative way, this is what we have been waiting for...in a practical sense, not a wish list.

We need now to constantly harp this bill, lobby to get it passed, and do what we can to tweak it.

I agree, but if I'm not mistaken, this Congress will be ending soon and the pending legislation will die. I think we should hope for this bill to be reintroduced in the next Congress (the 111th) hopefully with a few key changes that orient it more clearly towards the liquid-fluoride reactor, the only approach that will meet the goals of the bill.