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Written question asked by Lord Swire (Conservative) on Thursday, 3 November 2016, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 8 November 2016 (named day). It was answered by Jesse Norman (Conservative) on Tuesday, 8 November 2016 on behalf of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

Nuclear Power Stations

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of using thorium rather than plutonium in nuclear power plants.

Answer

BEIS maintains an interest in the global potential of thorium nuclear fuels.

In 2012, DECC published an initial comparative assessment of thorium and uranium technologies in nuclear power electricity generation. This is available online from:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/thorium-and-uranium-fuel-cycles-comparison-by-the-national-nuclear-laboratory

BEIS also draws on the expertise of its national laboratories to model nuclear scenarios that include the use of thorium. These are used to inform research and development needs on future nuclear fuel cycles. An overview of these are included in the document “Nuclear Energy Research and Development Roadmap: Future Pathways”, which is available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nuclear-energy-research-and-development-roadmap-future-pathways

Plutonium plays a different functional role in the design of proposed nuclear fuels than thorium does and would only be used in conjunction with thorium, rather than in place of it. For this reason, BEIS has undertaken no assessment of replacing plutonium with thorium.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
51802
Session
2016-17
Subjects
Nuclear power stations Plutonium Thorium
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk