THORIUM AS AN ENERGY SOURCE - Opportunities for Norway ...

Thorium as an Energy Source - Opportunities for Norway
Acknowledgements
The Thorium committee was established in the beginning of 2007 with well known experts in the
nuclear area from Norway, OECD/NEA, Sweden and Switzerland as committee members. We had
altogether 6 one day meetings in Oslo and some of the meetings continued into the following day.
The hospitality of The Research Council of Norway was very well appreciated.
I would warmly thank all the committee members for their collaborative and active working
attitude. Discussions at the meetings were lively and constructive. We did not avoid the necessary
philosophical debate giving to all of us the useful background for this kind of long term energy
matter. When discussing long term energy visions and trends they come close to our scientific and
social consciousness leading to most interesting debates.
As external experts the Committee invited the following international nuclear area scientists and
experts:
• Dr. Hattangadi Suresh Kamath,
Director of Nuclear Fuels Group, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), India.
• Professor Kurt Kugeler,
Institute of reactor safety and -technology, RWTH Aachen University, Germany.
• Professor Ulrich Ratzinger,
Institute for Applied Physics, J.W. Goethe-University, Frankfurt, Germany.
• Dr. Claude Renault,
Chairman of the Generation IV Molten Salt Reactor Steering Committee, CEA France.
• Dr. Gunnar Saxebøl,
Director of the Department for Radiation Protection and Safety,
The Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority (NRPA).
• Dr. Per Strand,
Director of the Department for Emergency Preparedness and Environmental Radioactivity,
The Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority (NRPA).
External Reports have also been provided by:
• K. Kugeler, N. Pöppe, S. Jühe, O. Schitthelm: Use of Thorium in the nuclear energy technology
- experiences in Germany. Institute of reactor safety and - technology, RWTH Aachen
University, September 2007.
• Ingvar Lindahl: Thorium resources in Norway, The Geological Survey of Norway (NGU),
October 2007.
• Mette Seyersted: Note to the Thorium Report Committee, The Norwegian Radiation Protection
Authority (NRPA), November 2007.
They all gave us interesting and high quality lectures and reports on various aspects of thorium
as a nuclear fuel and energy source. We are all grateful to these experts for their enthusiastic and
knowledgeable input to the Committees work. Much of the information provided has been directly
used in this report.
I would also like to thank The Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy for this very
challenging task. This work has been at the same time most relevant from the global greenhouse
gas point of view as well as from the point of view of the ongoing development within the nuclear
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