nuclear-news

Thorium prognosis

Dr. Sitakanta Mishra , from an article in Indrastra, 3 Sept 17 

A Prognosis  Despite the promising future of thorium-based nuclear systems, critics point to several inherent drawbacks. First, though uranium is in short-supply, the post-Fukushima uranium market is not very competitive. Uranium is still available or supplied in plenty by many countries, especially in India after the Indo-US nuclear deal. Secondly, thorium-based programs have been discarded by many countries as they are expensive and time-consuming.

Skeptics believe that “the likelihood of a rapid expansion of nuclear power” in India is “very dim” The goal post of the three-stage program (and PFBR) has been shifted several times, and the final shape of the planned AHWR300-LEU is definitely far away; in the worst case, it may not fructify at all. Since the thorium utilization in FBR is a long way off, the AHWR was designed to give a quick start for the technological developments of thorium cycle.

September 11, 2017 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | general