When Canadian scientists set out to design nuclear reactors in the early 1950s, they did so with an eye to the future, the far future, when uranium supplies ran out. The Canada Deuterium Uranium (CANDU) reactor, the product of this foresight, can burn thorium as well as uranium. At the time of the initial design, burning thorium, a cleaner burning nuclear fuel, seemed fantastic—the market wanted uranium reactors, and besides, thorium burns so hot that scientists had no technology at the time to actually burn thorium.
Now we do. Robotics can now support the thorium cycle in a commercial environment, giving way to the possibility of a commercial-scale CANDU reactor burning thorium.
Now it seems that thorium’s time—a time Canadian scientists envisioned at the dawn of the nuclear age—has finally come, as China’s growing economy adopts thorium reactors, as countries around the world look more closely at their growing energy needs, at the dangers associated with nuclear power, and the inadequacy of so many renewable energy sources.
The Canadian perspective
In the 1950s, Canadian scientists designed nuclear reactors to use natural uranium, instead of enriched uranium, in an effort to combat nuclear proliferation. “[Canadian labs] designed a technology that worked with natural uranium,” says Dr. Dave Novog, Associate Professor in the Department of Engineering Physics at McMaster University. “This meant we didn’t need enrichment facilities that could be construed as being weapons. In fact, we’re quite far from any technology that would be needed for weapons.”
Canada poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into thorium research in the 1950s and 60s, planning to eventually migrate to a domestic thorium cycle and sell the country’s substantial uranium stores as other countries run dry. Knowing the necessities of a thorium cycle, scientists designed the reactor to one day flourish in a thorium economy.
“The developers always had this thorium cycle in mind,” says Dr. Dan Meneley, former Chief Engineer of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited. “I’d say a fair amount of good management and a whole lot of luck went into those reactors.”
So why use uranium at all?
“Things that happen early on tend to determine which way a country goes with a given technology,” Meneley says. “You can’t run a nuclear reactor without a fissile material and thorium doesn’t come with a fissile material. Without the technology to support thorium in the beginning, our only choice was to use natural uranium in our nuclear reactors, so that’s what we used.”
Thorium becomes uranium 233 in a thorium reactor. Advanced reprocessing at substantial cost is necessary in the thorium-to-uranium conversion.
While they used natural uranium as a fuel source, Canadian scientists developed early CANDU reactors with a thorium agenda. And for good reason. Canada holds about 100,000 tons of thorium according to the World Nuclear Association, outstripped only by India (360,000), Australia (300,000), Norway (170,000), the U.S. (160,000) and possibly China.
The dollar economy
Canada possesses large stores of thorium and the technology to use it, but, like most other nuclear countries, continues to burn uranium for fuel.
“It’s much cheaper to do things the way we do right now,” says Dr. Adriaan Buijs, President of the Canadian Nuclear Society. “We do have large quantities of thorium, but we also have one of the largest reserves of uranium on the planet. At the moment, thorium simply isn’t a priority for us and that’s why we’re not focused on it. In China, it’s a different story.”
According to Buijs, thorium is burning in CANDU reactors in China today. “The reactors we designed are the only type of reactor that can use thorium essentially as they are,” he explains. Canada holds enough uranium to power its nuclear reactors for decades while still exporting to countries like India with rising demand.
For any country to migrate to a thorium cycle, the associated costs must drop. Currently, thorium costs about $5,000 per kilogram compared to uranium 235 at $40. However, the World Nuclear Association projects thorium could drop as low as $10 per kilogram when mined en masse.
A one gigawatt uranium plant costs about $1.1 billion to build and $30 million to fuel annually. The World Nuclear Association says a thorium plant of equal size could cost as little as $250 million and fuelling it might cost $1 million annually.
Experts believe this is the future of energy mass production and it will come when necessity dictates. “For somewhere like Germany or Italy, life is going to be very painful when oil is up to $300 per barrel,” says Meneley. “We can’t count on natural gas and we can’t count on oil. Without nuclear, and thorium as a significant part of that, it will be a low energy future.”
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Now we do. Robotics can now support the thorium cycle in a commercial environment, giving way to the possibility of a commercial-scale CANDU reactor burning thorium.
Now it seems that thorium’s time—a time Canadian scientists envisioned at the dawn of the nuclear age—has finally come, as China’s growing economy adopts thorium reactors, as countries around the world look more closely at their growing energy needs, at the dangers associated with nuclear power, and the inadequacy of so many renewable energy sources.
The Canadian perspective
In the 1950s, Canadian scientists designed nuclear reactors to use natural uranium, instead of enriched uranium, in an effort to combat nuclear proliferation. “[Canadian labs] designed a technology that worked with natural uranium,” says Dr. Dave Novog, Associate Professor in the Department of Engineering Physics at McMaster University. “This meant we didn’t need enrichment facilities that could be construed as being weapons. In fact, we’re quite far from any technology that would be needed for weapons.”
Canada poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into thorium research in the 1950s and 60s, planning to eventually migrate to a domestic thorium cycle and sell the country’s substantial uranium stores as other countries run dry. Knowing the necessities of a thorium cycle, scientists designed the reactor to one day flourish in a thorium economy.
“The developers always had this thorium cycle in mind,” says Dr. Dan Meneley, former Chief Engineer of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited. “I’d say a fair amount of good management and a whole lot of luck went into those reactors.”
So why use uranium at all?
“Things that happen early on tend to determine which way a country goes with a given technology,” Meneley says. “You can’t run a nuclear reactor without a fissile material and thorium doesn’t come with a fissile material. Without the technology to support thorium in the beginning, our only choice was to use natural uranium in our nuclear reactors, so that’s what we used.”
Thorium becomes uranium 233 in a thorium reactor. Advanced reprocessing at substantial cost is necessary in the thorium-to-uranium conversion.
While they used natural uranium as a fuel source, Canadian scientists developed early CANDU reactors with a thorium agenda. And for good reason. Canada holds about 100,000 tons of thorium according to the World Nuclear Association, outstripped only by India (360,000), Australia (300,000), Norway (170,000), the U.S. (160,000) and possibly China.
The dollar economy
Canada possesses large stores of thorium and the technology to use it, but, like most other nuclear countries, continues to burn uranium for fuel.
“It’s much cheaper to do things the way we do right now,” says Dr. Adriaan Buijs, President of the Canadian Nuclear Society. “We do have large quantities of thorium, but we also have one of the largest reserves of uranium on the planet. At the moment, thorium simply isn’t a priority for us and that’s why we’re not focused on it. In China, it’s a different story.”
According to Buijs, thorium is burning in CANDU reactors in China today. “The reactors we designed are the only type of reactor that can use thorium essentially as they are,” he explains. Canada holds enough uranium to power its nuclear reactors for decades while still exporting to countries like India with rising demand.
For any country to migrate to a thorium cycle, the associated costs must drop. Currently, thorium costs about $5,000 per kilogram compared to uranium 235 at $40. However, the World Nuclear Association projects thorium could drop as low as $10 per kilogram when mined en masse.
A one gigawatt uranium plant costs about $1.1 billion to build and $30 million to fuel annually. The World Nuclear Association says a thorium plant of equal size could cost as little as $250 million and fuelling it might cost $1 million annually.
Experts believe this is the future of energy mass production and it will come when necessity dictates. “For somewhere like Germany or Italy, life is going to be very painful when oil is up to $300 per barrel,” says Meneley. “We can’t count on natural gas and we can’t count on oil. Without nuclear, and thorium as a significant part of that, it will be a low energy future.”
Click Here To Read Full Article:
