Thorium and Norway

Thorium as an energy source –
opportunities for Norway
Report by the Thorium
committee
Dieter Røhrich
UiB and CERN (from 1.3.08)
1

Thorium as an energy source –
opportunities for Norway
The mandate:
“The Committee’s work and
the resulting Report shall
establish a solid knowledge
base concerning both
opportunities and risks
related to the use of thorium
for long-term energy
production. The work should
be conducted as a study of
the opportunities and
possibilities (screening),
based on a review of
Norway’s thorium resources
and the status of key
technologies.[...]”
Concluding remarks:
• The current knowledge of
thorium based energy
generation and the geology is
not solid enough to provide a
final assesment regarding the
potential value for Norway of a
thorium based system for a long
term energy production.
• The Committee recommends
that the thorium option be kept
open in so far it represents an
interesting complement to the
uranium option to strengthen
the sustainability of nuclear
energy
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Primary energy consumption
• World energy flows at the end of the last century
53% 37% 26% 8% 5% 22%
oil coal gas
Transportation 24% Industry 38%
hydro nuclear other
electricity
generation
12%
Residential and
commercial 38%
= 150%
= 100%
3

Global energy consumption
4

Energy situation in Europe
• Status 2004
– 152 nuclear reactors -> 31% of electricity consumption
– Nordic countries
» Sweden: 10 units
» Finland: 4 units, one nuclear power plant under construction
• The EU Climate and Energy Package - Targets by 2020
– Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 20% compared to 1990
level
– Reduction of energy consumption by 20% compared to 1990 level
– Increase the share of renewable sources in the EU energy mix to 20%
– Increase the share of biofuels of transport petrol and diesel to 10%
5

Million Tonnes Natural Uranium
Cumulative natural uranium demand and reserves
6
5
4
3
2
1
Cumulative Natural Uranium Demand and Reserve Levels
0
0
2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050
Reserves (US$80/kgU) Reserves (US$130/kgU) Nat. U demand (Million t U)
200
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
GtCO 2 Equivalent
Nuclear Energy
Agency’s Reference
Scenario
• Continued nuclear
growth
• Reported uranium
reserves last until
about 2040
• Reported reserves
depend on demand –
might increase
• Breeder reactor
technology would
change this
development
6

Energy situation in Norway
• 100% hydro power
• Production
matches the
consumption
• Large fluctuations
in production due
to weather
variations
• Import/export via
power cables to
Sweden, Finland,
Netherlands
7

Thorium as nuclear fuel
• Thorium has been used as nuclear fuel since the 1960s
• Preparation of thorium fuel is more complex and expensive than
that of uranium fuel
• Thorium as a nuclear fuel is technically well established and
behaves remarkably well in various reactors
• Reprocessing thorium fuel is complicated and will require a
substantial effort for the development of a commercial plant
• Waste management will in principal follow known procedures and
methods
• Radiation protection requirements for the thorium cycle might be
lower than those of the uranium cycle
• Technically, one of the best ways to dispose of a plutonium stock
pile is to burn it in a thorium-plutonium MOX fuel
9

=
Nuclear reactors for thorium fuel
• U-233 has some very attractive properties as fissile material
– U-233 emits so many neutrons per fission that they can sustain a chain
reaction AND breed new U-233 from Th-232
number of neutrons
produced
per neutron captured
10

Nuclear reactors for thorium fuel
• Advantage
– Practically NO production of longlived transuranic elements
-> reduced radiotoxicity of waste
• Disadvantage
– Smaller percentage of delayed neutrons
-> more difficult to control in extreme situations
– Management of parasitic Pa-233
-> difficult reactor operation (online re-fuelling, special seed-blanket
geometry)
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(Industrial) experience with thorium in nuclear
reactors
Country Name Type Power Operation
Germany AVR HTGR 15 MW e 1967 - 1988
Germany THTR HTGR 300 MW e 1985 - 1989
UK, OECD-EURATOM
also Norway, Sweden &
Switzerland
Dragon HTGR 20 MW th 1966 -1973
USA Fort St Vrain HTGR 330 MW e 1976 – 1989
USA, ORNL MSRE MSBR 7.5 MW th 1964 – 1969
USA
India
Shippingport &
Indian Point
KAMINI,
CIRUS &
DHRUVA
LWBR
PWR
MTR
100 MW e
285 MW e
30 kW th
40 MW th
100 MW th
1977 – 1982
1962 – 1980
In operation
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Shippingport light water reactor
Pennsylvania, USA
• Light water
breeding
reactor
– Fuelled with
U-233 and
Th-232
– Produced
1.4% more
fuel than it
burned
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Status of thorium projects today
• Most projects using thorium were terminated by
the end of the 1980s
• Main Reasons
– The thorium fuel cycle could not compete economically
with the well-known uranium cycle
– Lack of political support for the development of nuclear
technology after the Chernobyl accident
– Increased worldwide concern regarding the
proliferation risk associated with reprocessing of spent
fuel
• Except for India
– long term energy plan which includes a complicated
scheme of plutonium and thorium fuel
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Future nuclear energy systems using thorium
• Goal
– self-sustaining thorium fuel cycle (no U-235, U-238 or plutonium)
• Two potential reactor types (conceptual level)
– Molten salt reactor
» One of the reactor types of the roadmap of the Generation IV
International Forum
» Not specially designed for thorium
» 20-30 years of R&D
– Accelerator Driven System (ADS)
» Proton accelerator + spallation target + subcritical reactor core
» Very versatile and flexible concept
» Part of the EURATOM FP6 roadmap
(MYRRHA project in Belgium)
» Considered at the moment for the
transmutation of waste
(and not for energy production)
» 20-30 years of R&D
17

Thorium market
• There is no market for
thorium as of today
• By-product of rare
earth element mining
• Total amount of
thorium produced
worldwide:
37 500 tonnes
(US, Australia,
China, India)
22

Tonnes
Thorium in Norway
World Thorium Reserves and Reserve Base (Resources)
700 000
600 000
500 000
400 000
300 000
200 000
100 000
0
Australia
India
United
States
Norway
Canada
Other
countries
South
Africa
Brazil
Malaysia
Reserve Base
Reserves
US Geological Survey claims that:
• Norway has one of the major thorium
reserves in the world.
The Geological Survey of Norway:
• Thorium has never been specifically
explored for
• Fen Complex most promising
• Low concentration 0.1 – 0.4 wt%
• Volume estimates are uncertain
• Grain size too small for the traditional
flotation processes
• Norway has a potential resource
• More investigations necessary to
define as a reserve
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Conclusions and recommendations (1)
The potential contribution of nuclear energy to a
sustainable energy future should be recognized.
• Volume estimates of Norwegian thorium resources are
uncertain; the grain size is too small for traditional
extraction processes.
It is essential to assess whether thorium in Norwegian
rocks can be defined as an economical asset for the
benefit of future generations.
• The development of an ADS using thorium is not within the
capability of a Norway working alone.
Joining the European effort in that field should be
considered.
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Conclusions and recommendations (2)
Norway should strengthen its international collaboration
by joining the EURATOM fission programme and GIF
programme on Generation IV reactors suitable for the use
of thorium
• The proliferation resistance of uranium-233 depends on
the reactor and reprocessing technologies.
Due to the lack of experience with industrial-scale thorium
fuel cycle facilities, similar safeguard measures as for
plutonium are considered mandatory until otherwise
documented.
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Conclusions and recommendations (3)
• Any new nuclear activity in Norway, e.g. thorium fuel
cycles, would need strong international pooling of human
resources, and in the case of thorium strong long-term
commitment.
In order to meet the challenge related to the new nuclear
era in Europe, Norway should secure its competence
within nuclear sciences and nuclear engineering fields.
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