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

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Thorium as an Energy Source - Opportunities for Norway • Act relating to mining (relevant authority: Ministry of Industry and Trade). • Industrial Licensing Act (relevant authority: Ministry of Petroleum and Energy). • Planning and Building Act (relevant authority: Ministry of the Environment). Furthermore, contamination of the environment may occur during mining and milling of thorium making the following act and regulation applicable: • Pollution Control Act (relevant authority: Ministry of the Environment). • Regulations on environmental impact assessment (relevant authority: Ministry of the Environment). As thorium and its daughters are radioactive, the Radiation Protection Act, the Radiation Protection Regulations, the Regulation relating to work with ionising radiation and the Act relating to working environment, working hours and employment protection will be essential if a thorium based industry is established. However, authorisation requirements for mining and milling thorium are not included in the current radiation protection regulatory system. 8.2 Import of Thorium to Norway and Export of Thorium from Norway Import and export of thorium will require authorisation according to the: • Regulations on Possession, Transfer and Transportation of Nuclear Material and Dual-use Equipment (import: Section 3 and export: sections 11 and 12). The import of thorium is also subject to the principle of justification (Radiation Protection Act Section 5), and according to the Act “The Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority may refuse the import or sale of any product or substance and any item that may involve a risk to health or environment due to radiation, provided that this is not in conflict with international agreements to which Norway has acceded”. In the case where export authorization is given, the export is subject to notification to NRPA and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 8.3 Enrichment, Fuel Production, Operation and Waste Disposal The Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy is responsible for nuclear power plants and the Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services is responsible for other nuclear installations. The relevant legislation for these activities will be: • Planning and Building Act. • Regulations on environmental impact assessment. • Act concerning nuclear energy activities. • Radiation Protection Act. • Radiation Protection Regulations. • Energy Act. • Pollution Control Act. The Act concerning Nuclear Energy Activities and associated regulations include: • Licence for constructing, owning and operating nuclear installations, as well as permits • Supervision by the National Radiation Protection Authority 88
• Safety, security and emergency preparedness • Fees and dues • Nuclear liability (compensation and insurance) • Control of the peaceful utilisation of nuclear energy The Act concerning Nuclear Energy Activities applies to the following: Regulation “ (a) nuclear fuel: fissile material in the form of uranium or plutonium in metallic form, alloy or chemical compound, and such other fissile material as the Ministry may determine; (b) radioactive product: other radioactive material (including wastes) which is made or has become radioactive by irradiation accidental to the production or utilisation of nuclear fuel; (c) nuclear substance: nuclear fuel, other than natural uranium and depleted uranium, as well as radioactive products, except radioisotopes used for industrial, commercial, agricultural, medical or scientific purposes or which are intended for, and are directly usable for such a purpose; (d) nuclear reactor: a structure containing nuclear fuel in such an arrangement that a selfsustaining chain process of nuclear fission can occur therein without the addition of neutrons from another source; (e) nuclear installation: nuclear reactor installation; factory for production or processing of nuclear substances, factory for the separation of isotopes of nuclear fuel, factory for reprocessing irradiated nuclear fuel, facility for the storage of nuclear substances other than facilities intended exclusively for use as temporary storage accidental to the transport of such substances, and such other facilities, in which there are nuclear fuel or radioactive products, as the Ministry may determine” Furthermore, the requirements for licensing a nuclear reactor will include reactors using: • uranium fuel and • thorium based fuel, where uranium or plutonium is used in conjunction with thorium to maintain the nuclear chain reaction Therefore, according to NRPA, a reactor based on using an accelerator and pure thorium fuel does not fall under the present legal term "nuclear reactor" as such a system would be dependent on an external source of accelerated protons or neutrons to maintain the nuclear chain reaction (see Appendix D1). The Act concerning Nuclear Energy Activities would therefore need to be amended in order to incorporate a thorium-based Accelerator Driven System (ADS). The Energy Act includes requirements on licensing for installations for the generation, conversion, transmission and distribution of high voltage electrical energy. The process for applications for licences is described in Appendix D1. There is also a fee for licence application and a due for supervision of nuclear installations as specified in The Act concerning Nuclear Energy Activities, section 57. 8.4 The Establishment of a Thorium Based Nuclear Reactor in Norway Licences and permits for constructing, owning and operating nuclear installations are regulated by the Act concerning Nuclear Energy Activities and associated regulations. Activities related to Norwegian thorium-based nuclear energy will inter alia be regulated by the following legislation: The Planning and Building Act with regulations, the Act concerning nuclear energy activities with regulations, the Radiation Protection Act, The Energy Act and the Pollution 89
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2008 THORIUM AS AN ENERGY SOURCE -
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TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents
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Table of Contents 14.2 APPENDIX B2:
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The Thorium Report Committee was gi
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Foreword energy area. The price vol
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1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Executive Summ
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Radiation Protection of Man and the
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Executive Summary nuclear engineeri
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Introduction In the context of such
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2.3 The EU Situation Introduction T
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Oil, Gas, NGL, Condensate (Million
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TWh 160 150 140 130 120 110 100 90
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Figure 2.8: Number of Operating Rea
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Tonnes 1 200 000 1 000 000 800 000
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US $ / kg UF 6 160 140 120 100 80 6
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2.8 Worldwide Activities on Thorium
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1. Alkaline complexes and their peg
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Thorium Resources in Norway The tho
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Thorium Resources in Norway The pot
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Thorium Resources in Norway A serie
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4.1.1 Mining and Extraction The Fro
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The Front End of the Thorium Fuel C
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The Front End of the Thorium Fuel C
Page 47 and 48: 4.3.2 HTGR Fuel Performance The Fro
Page 49 and 50: 5.1 Properties of the Fertile Mater
Page 51 and 52: Nuclear Reactors for Thorium Table
Page 53 and 54: 5.3.1 Light Water Reactor (LWR) Nuc
Page 55 and 56: Nuclear Reactors for Thorium 2. Cyc
Page 57 and 58: 5.3.2.4 Gas Turbine-Modular Helium
Page 59 and 60: Figure 5.7: General Layout of the A
Page 61 and 62: 5.4.2 Generation IV Reactors Nuclea
Page 63 and 64: Nuclear Reactors for Thorium econom
Page 65 and 66: Nuclear Reactors for Thorium • Ad
Page 67 and 68: Nuclear Reactors for Thorium temper
Page 69 and 70: Nuclear Reactors for Thorium Figure
Page 71 and 72: Nuclear Reactors for Thorium the de
Page 73 and 74: Nuclear Reactors for Thorium remova
Page 75 and 76: Nuclear Reactors for Thorium result
Page 77 and 78: The most important drawbacks of the
Page 79 and 80: Nuclear Reactors for Thorium mater
Page 81 and 82: 6. THE BACK END OF THE THORIUM FUEL
Page 83 and 84: The Back End of the Thorium Fuel Cy
Page 89 and 90: Radiation Protection of Man and the
Page 97: 8. REGULATION The use of thorium as
Page 101 and 102: Regulation • The Agreement betwee
Page 103 and 104: Non-proliferation Nations with secu
Page 105 and 106: Economical Aspects conventional rea
Page 107 and 108: 11. Radioecology 12. Decommissionin
Page 109 and 110: Research, Development, Education an
Page 117 and 118: Conclusions and Recommendations tho
Page 119 and 120: 13. APPENDIX A: INTRODUCTION TO NUC
Page 121 and 122: 14. APPENDIX B: NUCLEAR REACTOR TEC
Page 123 and 124: Figure 14.3: Boiling Water Reactor
Page 125 and 126: Appendix B: Nuclear Reactor Technol
Page 127 and 128: Table 15.1: The Current Course Pack
Page 129 and 130: • N12 Reactor Thermal Hydraulics,
Page 131 and 132: 16. APPENDIX D: RADIATION PROTECTIO
Page 133 and 134: Regulations on Radiation Protection
Page 135 and 136: ”Section 4. (Licence for nuclear
Page 137 and 138: 2. Dues shall be paid for the super
Page 139 and 140: use the best available technology s
Page 141 and 142: Summary: Legislation that is or may
Page 143 and 144: 216 Po α 0.145 s 6.906 (805) 212 P
Page 145 and 146: 18. ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS Acro
Page 147 and 148: Po polonium Po-208 polonium-208 Po-
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19. REFERENCES References Chapter 2
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References [35] J.D. SEASE et al.,
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References [68] E. Merle-Lucotte, D
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References [97] "On-going activites
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References [122] L. CINOTTI, “Inh
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References [149] M. Crick, UNSCEAR,
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