Thorium - addressing non-proliferation and waste management

Thorium Power Ltd. has been working for years to develop a solution to what are often sited as the two remaining challenges facing the global nuclear industry, waste management and non-proliferation.

Thorium fuel is interesting for Australian nuclear ambitions. Not only could it help mitigate the issues above, but it could enable India to achieve it's own nuclear ambitions without the pressure on Australia and other Uranium suppliers. Thorium is about three times more abundant and can be used directly without enrichment - India has plenty of its own [estimated at 13% of global thorium resources].

Thorium does have its own challenges to overcome in the short term. For example, the very features that make it so proliferation resistant [a number of highly radioactive, short lived byproducts] also make processing and recovery of the U-233 fuel difficult. Hence a lot of research in being conducted into developing long life, self breeding fuel assembly designs where processing is not required.

A recent press release of interest.

MCLEAN, VA, Dec 31, 2007 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX News Network) -- Thorium Power, Ltd. (OTCBB: THPW), the leading developer of low-waste, non-proliferative nuclear fuel technology for existing and future reactors, today announced that a new formal agreement has been reached with Russia's Kurchatov Institute relating to the irradiation testing program for the Company's fuel designs, which has been ongoing since 2002. The agreement assigns to Thorium Power Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Thorium Power, Ltd., the worldwide rights, title and interest in and to the technical data generated from the ampoule irradiation testing of seed and blanket fuel samples in the Kurchatov research reactor over the past two years.

Andrey Mushakov, Thorium Power's Executive Vice President for International Nuclear Operations, stated: "The agreement reconfirms our strategic development relationship with the Kurchatov Institute, one of Russia's premier nuclear research institutes. Ampoule irradiation testing is a critical, long lead-time activity in our comprehensive program of technology testing and demonstration activities and it is a vital process that new fuel designs must perform as part of a fuel qualification and regulatory licensing process. The ampoule irradiation testing work continues as expected at the Kurchatov Institute, and this agreement formalizes our rights to valuable technical data necessary for regulatory licensing of our commercial fuel designs."

Seth Grae, Thorium Power's CEO, added: "This agreement continues the excellent working relationship that we have had with the Kurchatov Institute and the Russian government for over a decade. The work under this agreement is an important step towards the demonstration of our fuel designs in a full scale commercial reactor."

About Thorium Power, Ltd.

Based in McLean, VA, Thorium Power, Ltd. is a nuclear energy pioneer and the leading provider of low-waste, non-proliferative nuclear fuel technology for existing and future reactors. The Company's technologies include nuclear fuel designs optimized to address key concerns about traditional nuclear power, including nuclear proliferation and nuclear waste. Thorium Power plans to license its technologies to commercial and government owned reactor operators and nuclear fuel fabricators aiming to benefit from thorium-based fuels. The Company is targeting new reactors in countries without a nuclear industry today, as well as currently operating and new reactors in countries with an established industry. Thorium Power is also leveraging its nuclear technology, business and regulatory expertise and relationships by offering services to commercial entities and governments looking to establish or expand nuclear industry capabilities and infrastructure. In addition to leveraging its International and Technical Advisory Boards comprised of key national and international leaders in the fields of nuclear energy, finance, government affairs, non-proliferation and diplomacy, the Company maintains long-standing relationships with leading Russian nuclear entities, providing expert resources and facilities for its nuclear fuel development activities. To support the implementation of its business model, Thorium Power has plans to form partnerships with various types of participants in the nuclear industry, allowing the Company to address multiple nuclear reactor types internationally.

DISCLAIMER

This press release may include certain statements that are not descriptions of historical facts, but are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements may include the description of our plans and objectives for future operations, assumptions underlying such plans and objectives, statements regarding benefits of the new agreement with Kurchatov and other statements identified by forward-looking terminology such as "may," "expects," "believes," "anticipates," "intends," "expects," "projects" or similar terms, variations of such terms or the negative of such terms. There are a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements made herein. Such information is based upon various assumptions made by, and expectations of, our management that were reasonable when made but may prove to be incorrect. All of such assumptions are inherently subject to significant economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies beyond our control and upon assumptions with respect to the future business decisions which are subject to change. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that actual results will meet expectations and actual results may vary (perhaps materially) from certain of the results anticipated herein. Reference is made to the risk factors contained in our latest annual report as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These factors may cause actual results to vary from the forward-looking statements contained in this release.

Further Information:

ANA / UIC - Thorium briefing paper

WNA - Thorium

Energy from thorium

Australian Labor - "Committed to Coal"

For those of us concerned about the environment, irrespective of where we stand on the issue of nuclear energy, one thing is clear, and is agreed upon by anti-nuclear energy activists and nuclear energy proponents alike, and that is that the use of coal combustion for energy generation is not only one of the single biggest contributors to anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, but is also a major source of environmental pollution of other forms, including particulates, heavy metals, and organic pollutants, with very significant impacts on the environment, and on human health.

Governments and environmental groups worldwide are today beginning to realise how unsustainable continued reliance on coal combustion for energy generation is.

With this in mind, one may be quite dismayed to hear that the Australian Labor Party is, according to an official media statement, "Committed to Coal".

I'm not trying to make too much of a political statement here, but I really believe that environmental responsibility must take precedence over securing the future economic viability of Australia's coal industry.

As the world grows increasingly concerned over the potential impact of anthropogenic forcing of climate change, the coal industry, worldwide, will suffer an economic downturn, and other systems of energy generation will take its place - Australia must be prepared for this, and can be prepared for this, given we have the capacity to offset the losses in the coal industry though expansion of Uranium and Thorium mining, without the environmental concerns surrounding coal combustion.

A typical "clean" coal-fired power plant, assuming capture and geosequestration of carbon dioxide with 90% efficiency, is responsible for the emission of 300 grams of CO2 equivalent per kilowatt-hour of electrical energy, 30% of the carbon dioxide emissions of conventional coal plants without CCS technology, assuming a typical coal-fired plant to emit 1000g CO2e/kWhe, which is in the same league as a combined-cycle natural gas plant, at around 500 gCO2/kWhe, compared with around 100g CO2e/kWhe for solar photovoltaics, and far less than that again for wind, nuclear, hydro and geothermal energy.

Gambling our future clean energy development on "clean coal", which may or may not ever actually develop to the point where it is competitive, and environmentally equivalent to, nuclear energy and other clean forms of energy generation is an environmentally dubious move, given that nuclear energy, and other clean technologies are more mature, and arguably far less polluting. After all, "clean coal" still produces fly ash and other hazardous wastes which are usually isolated from the environment in a sub-optimal way.

The ALP's talk of a target of 20% "renewable" energy generation is certainly a good idea, an achievable target, and is do-able, as Sweden (26% renewables, 44% nuclear) and Finland (about 23% renewables, 27% nuclear), for example, demonstrate, but it will make essentially no difference when the remaining 80% is coming from coal - the single most dangerous, environmentally destructive way of generating electricity there is - and it's quite clear that that's what the ALP, for whatever motivation, is interested in seeing to. I hope that, in time, they'll come around, and look fairly at the case for nuclear energy.

Green nuclear power coming to Norway

As reported by Cosmos Magazine:

Image courtesy of Cosmos Magazine & Justin Randall

Norway remains quite active in the areas (among others) of nuclear non-proliferation, energy security, and global environmental stewardship. Norwegians - specifically - are looking to Thorium based nuclear power technology to solve the overlapping problems of all three after Norway's state-owned energy company, Statkraft, this week announced plans to investigate building a thorium-fuelled nuclear reactor.

Some relevant highlights of the technology:

• The reaction is 'driven' by a nuclear accelerator (called an Accelerator Driven Sub-critical (ADS) system, and therefore can not maintain a self-sustained nuclear reaction [improved safety].
• ADS technology can be used to 'burn' waste products from existing nuclear reactors. Relevant studies were completed for example as part of the US Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative [waste management and proliferation avoidance].
• The technology produces significantly less high level waste.(see 'New age nuclear', Cosmos, issue 8) [waste minimisation and management].
• Byproducts of the Thorium reaction do not include materials that pose increased weapons proliferation risks (Plutonium and Uranium) [non-proliferation].
• Thorium is significantly more abundant than Uranium and does not require high-tech enrichment technologies [sustainability, energy security and non-proliferation]. [Enrichment being the central issue responsible for the dramas in Iran at the moment, for example.]

The article also discusses an amazing flop in Norwegian public opinion in less than a year, with 80% now favouring Thorium nuclear technology development. [All emphasis is mine]

"It would be a sin of omission not to consider it," said Bård Mikkelsen, CEO of Statkraft, in an interview with the Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet.

"Norway has taken the lead on this. We are an energy nation; we have large supplies of thorium – not as much as Australia of course – but we have a very advanced energy industry, and we have a responsibility to the world," said Lillestøl [a nuclear physicist at the University of Bergen, Norway]. "Without nuclear energy we will destroy the world, we will spend all the coal, oil and gas, and we will be left with an energy desert."

As with other things nuclear, there are industrial opportunities and interest within Australia. But one quoted Sydney nuclear scientist expressed his doubts about Australian political will and research resource commitment, claiming Australia is 'lagging behind' while European Union, India, the US, Japan and Russia all work to develop thorium energy technologies.

For further information, including identified reserves per country, see Also:

Thorium Power Limited

World Nuclear Association - Thorium

UIC - Thorium

US Geological Survey (USGS) - Thorium

Let's focus our energy on a safer future

As reported in The Australian:

Leslie Kemeny

"AUSTRALIAN politicians who wish to minimise the risks of international nuclear proliferation should first promote their nation's full involvement in the international nuclear fuel cycle and endorse the development of an Australian nuclear power industry.

Their main objective should be to strengthen the non-proliferation regime and the compliance mechanisms of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The first five decades of the 21st century will see extensive growth in nuclear power generation worldwide. By 2050 Australians could find that up to one-third of their nation's energy supply will come from nuclear power stations. As well, Australia, already the world's premier coal exporter, will be called on to become the planet's primary suppler of greenhouse-friendly uranium and perhaps thorium. It may also be fully engaged with the global nuclear fuel cycle industry and may join the Nuclear Suppliers Group of nations."