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ConsideringanAlternativeFuelforNuclearEnergyTheNewYorkTimes

GLOBALBUSINESS

SPECI ALREPORT:ENERGY

ConsideringanAlternativeFuelfor
NuclearEnergy
ByLISAPHAM

OCT.19,2009

PARISFordecades,scientistshavedreamedaboutturningthoriumanelement
thatislessradioactiveandproduceslessnuclearwastethanuraniumintoan
alternativefuelfornuclearenergy.Recenttechnologicaldevelopmentsmaybe
bringingthedreamclosertoreality.
Asanaturallyoccurringmetalthatissubstantiallymoreabundantthan
uranium,itsmostcommonisotopicform,thorium232,canbeconvertedby
irradiationtouranium233,whichissuitableforuseinnuclearfuels.
TheUnitedStatesisestimatedtohave400,000tonsofthorium,Turkey
344,000tonsandIndia319,000tons,accordingtoa2008jointreportbythe
NuclearEnergyAgency,abodylinkedtotheOrganizationforEconomicCooperation
andDevelopment,andtheInternationalAtomicEnergyAgency.
Therearenocommercialthoriumreactorsinoperation.Instead,nuclear
reactorsuseuranium235whichmustbeenrichedbeforeitcanbeusedasfuel.
Uranium235accountsfor0.7percentoftheuraniumnowbeingmined.
RajendranRaja,aphysicistatFermilabtheU.S.DepartmentofEnergys
FermiNationalAcceleratorLaboratoryinBatavia,Illinoissaidbytelephonethat
thebenefitofaddingthoriumtothefuelmixwouldbetocreatemuchmorefuel
usingexistingabundantresourcesandtoreducewaste.

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Thiscouldbedonebybuildingahighintensityprotonacceleratorwiththe
capacitytoproducefastneutronsthatcouldconvertnuclearwaste,thorium232and
uranium238intofuel,hesaid.Buttoaccomplishthis,aprotonacceleratorwould
needtobe10timesmorepowerintensethananythingthathasbeenproducedto
date.
Theconceptofanacceleratordrivensubcriticalsystem,knownasADS,has
beenaroundsincethe1990s.Itdiffersfromconventionalreactorswhichoperateat
criticality,whichisthepointatwhichanuclearreactioncanbeselfsustaining.Butif
achainreactiongetsoutofcontrol,accidentslikethoseatChernobylcouldoccur,
andhighlevelsofradioactivematerialcouldbereleasedintotheatmosphere.
Subcriticalreactors,however,woulduseneutronsprovidedbytheacceleratorto
continuethefission.Thismeansthatcriticalitycouldbeavoidedbyswitchingoffthe
accelerator,whichinturnwouldswitchofftheneutrons.Thistypeofreactorhasnot
beenbuiltbecauseanacceleratorwithsufficientpowerdoesnotexist,Dr.Rajasaid.
ButexpertsintheUnitedStatesandelsewherearetakingstepsinthatdirection.
InSeptember,aU.S.DepartmentofEnergyfacilitysuccessfullycompletedatest
ofthefirstU.S.builtsuperconductingradiofrequencyniobiumcavityintendedto
becomepartoftheprototypeacceleratoratFermilab.Theniobiumcavity,whichis
moreefficientthanthemorecommoncoppercavities,canbeusedtobuildaparticle
acceleratorproducing10megawattsofbeampower,whichinturncouldconvert
thoriumintonuclearfuel.
Thisisasaferformofnuclearenergywhichproducesmorefuelandless
waste,Dr.Rajasaid.
Indiahasbeenmakingadvancesinthefieldofthoriumbasedfuels,workingto
designanddevelopaprototypeforanatomicreactorusingthoriumandlow
enricheduranium.
Thecountryhasalongtermobjectivegoalofbecomingenergyindependent
basedonitsvastthoriumresources,AnilKakodkar,chairmanoftheIndianAtomic
EnergyCommission,saidinaspeechinViennainSeptember.

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Dr.RajasaidthatIndiasnewthoriumreactordoesnotuseanaccelerator.
Instead,itisafastbreederreactorandneutronsareproducedbyaplutoniumcore
ratherthananaccelerator.
Theadvantageofusinganacceleratoristhatifsomethinggoeswrong,wecan
switchitoff,Dr.Rajasaid.Acceleratorbasedsystemsoperateatsubcriticality,
whichmeanstheycanproducefissionwithoutachievingaselfsustainingnuclear
reaction.
Asoflatelastyear,Australiahadidentifiedanestimated489,000tonsof
thoriumresources,recoverableatlessthan$176apound,accordingtoGeoscience
Australia,agovernmentagency.
ButtheAustraliangovernmentisopposedtothedevelopmentofanuclear
powerindustry,evenwiththoriumbasedsystems.
JohnBoldeman,aspecialistinnuclearscienceandengineering,andhis
colleaguesattheUniversityofSydneyhavebeeninterestedinacceleratordriven
systemsformorethan15years.
Heacknowledgedthatcreatinganythoriumsystemswouldbealongprocess
thatcouldtakedecadesbeforefindingsuccess.OurprogramsinAustraliaareat
thisstageverylimited,Mr.Boldemansaidinanemailmessage,althoughwe
continuetoapplyforfunding.
TheU.S.energysecretary,StevenChu,announced$1.2billioninnewscience
financinginMarch,includingresearcheffortsandsupportforfieldslike
superconductivity.
Dr.Rajaestimatedthatahighintensityprotonacceleratorprototypewouldcost
roughly$1billion,includingresearch,developmentandoverhead.Afterthat,each
massproducedmachinecouldbebuiltforapproximately$300million.
TheWorldNuclearAssociation,aninternationalorganizationinLondonthat
promotesnuclearenergy,believesthaturaniumisasaferbet.Theuraniumfuel
cycleis50yearsold,worldproven,thoroughlymatureandthecostsarewell
known,saidIanHoreLacy,aspokesmanforthegroup.

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Peoplearenaturallyinclinedtostickwithwhattheyknow,headded.Thorium
asanalternativesourceofenergymightbecommerciallyviableoneday,hesaid,
butImnotholdingmybreath.
Environmentaladvocates,includingGreenpeaceInternational,alsodismiss
thoriumbasedsystemsasadistantdreamandadistractionfromthefast
implementationofrenewableenergyandefficiencytechnologies.
Whilethoriumpartiallyaddressessomeofthedownsidesofcurrent
commercialreactorsbasedonuraniumfuel,JanBeranek,nuclearenergyproject
leaderofGreenpeaceInternational,saidinanemailmessagefromAmsterdam,
fromwhatweknowitstillhassignificantissuesrelatedtofuelminingand
fabrication,reactorsafety,productionofdangerouswaste,andhazardsof
proliferation.
Mr.Beraneksaidthattheremightalsobeotherproblems,asyetundetected,
giventhestillundevelopedandhighlyexperimentalstateofthetechnology.
Theneedtoreducecarbonemissionswasurgent,hesaid.Weneedtoactnow,
andnotwaitseveraldecadestoseewhetherthoriumpowercandeliverornot,he
said.
AversionofthisspecialreportappearsinprintonOctober20,2009,inTheInternationalHeraldTribune.

2016TheNewYorkTimesCompany

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