{"id":39621,"date":"2014-02-17T12:00:50","date_gmt":"2014-02-17T12:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=39621"},"modified":"2015-05-05T22:11:05","modified_gmt":"2015-05-05T21:11:05","slug":"will-thorium-save-us-from-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2014\/02\/will-thorium-save-us-from-climate-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Thorium Save Us from Climate Change?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"dr<\/a>As knowledge about climate change<\/a> increases, so does demand for clean energy<\/a>. Technologies like solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, tidal and biofuels, along with energy-grid designs that will help us take advantage of renewables, are part of the equation, as is conservation.<\/p>\n

But many argue that, despite Fukushima<\/a> and other disasters, nuclear is the best option to reduce carbon emissions fast enough to avoid catastrophic climate change. Because of problems with radioactive waste, meltdown risks and weapons proliferation, some say we must develop safer nuclear technologies.<\/p>\n

Even eminent climate scientists like James Hansen<\/a> claim we can\u2019t avoid nuclear if we want to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Hansen, a former NASA scientist, with Ken\u00a0Caldeira\u00a0of the Carnegie Institution, Kerry Emanuel of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and TomWigley\u00a0of Australia\u2019s University of Adelaide, wrote an open letter last year stating, \u201cthe time has come for those who take the threat of global warming seriously to embrace the development and deployment of safer nuclear power systems.\u201d<\/p>\n

What are \u201csafer nuclear power systems?\u201d And are they the answer?<\/p>\n

Proposed technologies<\/a> include smaller modular reactors, reactors that shut down automatically after an accident and molten salt<\/a> reactors. Some would use fuels and coolants deemed safer. (Industry proponents argue the low incidence of nuclear accidents means current technology is safe enough. But the costs and consequences of an accident, as well as problems such as containing highly radioactive wastes, provide strong arguments against building new reactors with current technology).<\/p>\n

One idea is to use thorium instead of uranium for reactor fuel. Thorium is more abundant than uranium. Unlike uranium, it\u2019s not fissile; that is, it can\u2019t be split to create a nuclear chain reaction, so it must\u00a0be bred through nuclear reactors to produce fissile uranium.<\/p>\n

\"Though<\/a>

Though the technology\u2019s been around since the 1950s, thorium hasn\u2019t been proven on a commercial scale. Countries including the U.S., China, France and Russia are pursuing it, but in 2010 the U.K.\u2019s National Nuclear Laboratory reported that thorium claims are \u201coverstated.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n

Thorium-fuelled reactors produce less waste, and while some trace elements in spent uranium fuels remain radioactive for many thousands of years, levels in spent thorium fuels drop off much faster. China and Canada are working on a modified Canadian design that includes thorium along with recycled uranium fuel. With the right type of reactor, such as this design or the integral fast reactor<\/a>, meltdown risks are reduced or eliminated.<\/p>\n

Thorium can be employed in a variety of reactor types, some of which currently use uranium\u2014including heavy water reactors like Canada\u2019s CANDU. But some experts say new technologies, such as molten salt reactors, including liquid fluoride thorium reactors, are much safer and more efficient<\/a> than today\u2019s conventional reactors.<\/p>\n

So why aren\u2019t we using them?<\/p>\n

Although they may be better than today\u2019s reactors, LFTRs still produce radioactive and corrosive materials, they can be used to produce weapons<\/a> and we don\u2019t know enough about the impacts of using fluoride salts. Fluoride will contain a nuclear reaction, but it can be highly toxic, and deadly as fluorine gas. And though the technology\u2019s been around since the 1950s, it hasn\u2019t been proven on a commercial scale<\/a>. Countries including the U.S., China, France and Russia are pursuing it, but in 2010 the U.K.\u2019s\u00a0National Nuclear Laboratory reported that thorium claims are \u201coverstated<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

It will also take a lot of time and money to get a large number of reactors on-stream\u2014some say from 30 to 50 years. Given the urgent challenge of global warming, we don\u2019t have that much time. Many argue that if renewables received the same level of government subsidies as the nuclear industry, we\u2019d be ahead at lower costs. Thorium essentially just adds another fuel option to the nuclear mix and isn\u2019t a significant departure from conventional nuclear. All nuclear power remains expensive, unwieldy and difficult to integrate with intermittent renewables\u2014and carries risks for weapons proliferation.<\/p>\n

If the choice is between keeping nuclear power facilities running or shutting them down and replacing them with coal-fired power plants, the nuclear option is best for the climate. But, for now, investing in renewable energy and smart-grid technologies is a faster, more cost-effective and safer option than building new nuclear facilities, regardless of type.<\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t mean we should curtail research into nuclear and other options, including thorium\u2019s potential to improve the safety and efficiency of nuclear facilities.\u00a0But we must also build on the momentum of renewable energy development<\/a>, which has been spurred by its safety, declining costs and proven effectiveness.<\/p>\n

____________________________<\/p>\n

Dr. David Suzuki is a scientist, broadcaster, author, and co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation<\/a>. He is Companion to the Order of Canada and a recipient of UNESCO’s Kalinga Prize for science, the United Nations Environment Program medal, the 2009 Right Livelihood Award, and Global 500. Dr. Suzuki is Professor Emeritus at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and holds 27 honorary degrees from universities around the world. He is familiar to television audiences as host of the long-running CBC television program\u00a0<\/i>The Nature of Things<\/em>, and to radio audiences as the original host of CBC Radio’s\u00a0<\/i>Quirks and Quarks<\/em>, as well as the acclaimed series\u00a0<\/i>It’s a Matter of Survival<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/i>From Naked Ape to Superspecies<\/em>. His written work includes more than 52 books, 19 of them for children.\u00a0Dr. Suzuki lives with his wife, Dr. Tara Cullis, and family in Vancouver, B.C.<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n

Visit EcoWatch\u2019s\u00a0<\/b>NUCLEAR<\/b><\/a>\u00a0and RENEWABLE ENERGY<\/a> pages for more related news on this topic.<\/b><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 ecowatch.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If the choice is between keeping nuclear power running or replacing them with coal-fired power plants, the nuclear option is best for the climate. But, for now, investing in renewable energy and smart-grid technologies is a faster, more cost-effective and safer option than building new nuclear facilities, regardless of type. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[147],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-energy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39621\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}