Revol J.-P., Bourquin M., Kadi Y., Lillestol E., de Mestral J.-Ch., Samec K. (Eds.) Thorium Energy for the World

Springer International Publishing, Switzerland, 2016. — 442 p. — ISBN: 9783319265407Proceedings of the ThEC13 Conference, CERN, Globe of Science and Innovation, Geneva, Switzerland, October 27-31, 2013.
A large amount of experience has been gained during the last 60 years of construction and operation of nuclear reactors based on uranium. It is now desirable to use this experience to explore and develop alternatives to present-day technologies.
Following the Fukushima accident, fear of radiation has led to snap decisions to phase out nuclear power in Germany. However, there is still room for long-term thinking and financing of innovation in the nuclear sector. The work on thorium-based nuclear reactors is attracting increasing attention around the world, and rightly so: Global thorium resources are assessed to be three to four times greater than those of uranium, and the thorium cycle gives rise to waste that is smaller in volume, less toxic, and less long-lived than waste from uranium fuel.
From a security point of view, two other features are highly appealing: The first is that the use of thorium fuel offers a way to burn up large stocks of plutonium that now sit idle, but require expensive care and protection. The other is that thorium fuel does not give rise to materials that can be used for bombs.
The civilian nuclear community must do what it can to reduce the risk that more nuclear weapons are made from uranium or plutonium. This community can and should use its considerable brainpower to design reactors that can be easily safeguarded along with fuel and fuel supply organizations that do not lend themselves to proliferation. In these regards, the thorium community may have important contributions to make.
From the Contents
Invited Speakers: Opening Talks
Invited Speakers: National and International
Invited Speakers: Innovative Thorium-Reactor Concepts
Invited Speakers: Thorium-Fuel Cycle and Transmutation
Invited Speakers: Thorium-Reactor Physics
Invited Speakers: Accelerator-Driven Systems
Summary of the Round Table DiscussionPosters: National and International Thorium Programmes
Posters: Innovative Thorium-Reactor Concepts
Posters: Thorium-Fuel Cycle and Transmutation
Posters: Thorium Reactor Physics
Posters: Accelerator-Driven Systems