Thorium Energy Alliance (TEA) is a non-governmental, non-profit 501(c)(3), educational organization based in the United States, which seeks to promote global energy security through the use of thorium as a fuel source. The potential for thorium-based nuclear power was studied extensively during the 1950s and 60s,[1] and now worldwide interest is being revived due to limitations and concerns regarding safety, economics, usage, and the availability of other energy sources.[2][3][4][5][6][7] TEA advocates thorium-based nuclear power in existing reactors and primarily in next generation reactors. TEA promotes many initiatives to educate scientists, engineers, government officials, policymakers, and the general public.[8]
TEA promotes the use of thorium. An increasing world population,[9]depleting resources,[10] and global warming have placed severe constraints on the choices for power generation available today.[11] Traditional fossil fuel based energy generation faces challenges in terms of depleting resources and the need to keep greenhouse gas emissions in control.[12] While measures like natural gas and unconventional oil are proposed, these still have a carbon footprint and are not universally available.[13]Hydropower use has reached a natural limit in many parts of the world, and the existing capacity is under stress due to climate change.[14]Renewable energy is seen as an important component of future energy generation, but some believe it's essentially intermittent and cannot be effectively managed by the current power distribution technologies.[15] Hence, nuclear energy is seen as an option for power generation in many countries.[16]
Present-generation nuclear reactors are uranium-based and are fueled by either freshly mined uranium or recycled plutonium and uranium as the fissile material. There are concerns about a continued supply of uranium, due to resource depletion, as well as various obstacles to mining uranium deposits.[17] Moreover, the currently widely deployed nuclear reactors harness less than 3% of the energy content of uranium fuel. This technology, in turn, leaves large quantities of radioactive waste to be disposed of safely. Some believe the issue of waste storage is a negative for this energy source. A vast majority of the present generation reactors are based on the original design of reactors meant to power submarines, and whose safety is ensured by several active features and standard operating practices. Under various circumstances, these features and procedures were seen to fail, potentially bringing about catastrophic consequences. Highly enriched uranium and separated plutonium are also the feedstock for nuclear weapons.
Thorium has been proposed as a clean, safe, proliferation-resistant and sustainable source of energy which additionally is free from most of the issues associated with uranium.[18][19] The average crustal abundance of thorium is four times more than that of uranium. Thorium is invariably associated with rare-earth elements or rare metals like niobium, tantalum and zirconium. Hence, it can be recovered as a by-product of other mining activities. Already, large quantities of thorium recovered from rare-earth element operations have been stockpiled in many countries. Thorium is a fertile material, and essentially all thorium can be used in a nuclear reactor. Thorium is not fissile in itself, it absorbs a neutron to transmute into uranium-233, which can then fission to produce energy. Therefore, a thorium-based fuel cycle produces relatively little, easily manageable waste compared to uranium-based fuel cycles.[20] Thorium based fuel cycle options can be used to 'burn' all the presently accumulated nuclear waste. Various thorium-based reactor designs are inherently safer than uranium-based reactors.[21]Nuclear proliferation using thorium has proven to be extremely difficult and non-practical, although proof-of-concepts for this have been reported.[22]
Despite all the favorable factors, and use in commercial reactors in the past,[23][24] interest in thorium diminished in the late 1980s due to various reasons. Critics of thorium claim that the advantages are overstated and it is unlikely to be a useful source of energy. Experts point to adverse economics and the availability of plentiful alternative energy sources as factors that may deter the full commercialization of thorium-based energy. These and other issues regarding the use of thorium have been debated.[25][26][27][28]
Advocacy for thorium
One of the stated objectives of TEA is the vigorous advocacy for use of thorium as a nuclear fuel. Through its activities, TEA reaches out to scientists, engineers, government officials, policymakers, and lawmakers to raise awareness of the advantages of using thorium as a fuel. TEA has conducted a number of publicity campaigns and social media based outreach activities. TEA has emphasized the research and development conducted in the United States during the 1950s to 1970s on thorium based reactor designs and fuel cycle options. Of particular interest was the Molten-Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE) carried out at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the United States during 1964–1969.[29][30]
TEA argues the importance of enabling thorium energy, especially in liquid fluoride thorium reactor (LFTR pronounced lifter), in public hearings, such as the Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future.[31] TEA promotes the establishment of a working thorium powered reactor. TEA is particularly interested in restarting the homogeneous fuels research program and the commercialization of molten-salt reactor[32] and the supply chain infrastructure to support it.[33]
Another aim of TEA is supporting the reemergence of a Western Rare Earths Infrastructure by bringing together rare-earth producers leading to the establishment of a consortium for refining rare earths and sequestering thorium for future use.[34] TEA supports changes in existing thorium regulation in the US to promote safe production and stockpiling of thorium as a by-product of associated mineral industries activity.
TEA creates educational resources and textbooks, provides scholarships, facilitates speaking events, and produces museum exhibits presenting thorium-based energy. They plan to engage politicians through round-table discussions and provide them with expert opinion, white papers, executive summaries and talking points to demonstrate thorium technology.[35]
There is a major initiative to engage the public through traditional and social media channels. TEA facilitates experts to appear on radio and television and participate in group discussions and provide interviews. TEA generates a large quantity of its own media, including webcasts, podcasts, videos, pamphlets,[36] books, and articles. They sponsors advertising campaigns in print, television, and targeted mail.
The Thorium Energy Alliance has supported research projects at the Nanotechnology Lab at University of Missouri St Louis (UMSL). They have also completed outreach to youth through STEM-based organizations such as Generation Atomic, North American Young Generation in Nuclear, and Mothers for Nuclear, encouraging people to get involved in the industry.
The Thorium Energy Alliance website has created resources for international organizations and National Labs in the US as well as industry and military. They use the website to act as a resource and an encyclopaedia for the history and applications of thorium as well as a repository of conference information and related papers and topical documents.
The Thorium Energy Alliance has offered support for the development of nuclear medicines, such as Bismuth and Actinium, derived from Thorium extraction processes.
They have worked with rare-earth organizations and the Critical Minerals Institute (CMI) to solve the critical materials issues in the United States and the Western world by providing thorium policy guidance with the goal to start a new domestic Rare Earth Metals industry.
The Government of El Salvador and the Thorium Energy Alliance have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to promote the "El Salvador Energy Bridge" plan for clean energy through thorium.[37] The document was signed by Daniel Alvarez, Director General of Energy, Hydrocarbons and Mines (DGEHM), and John Kutsch, Executive Director of Thorium Energy Alliance, at the Embassy of El Salvador in Washington, D.C., with Ambassador Milena Mayorga as a witness of honor.
In the future, TEA plans to track the milestones in the creation of a thorium economy. One of the proposed methods will be to create a thorium and related technology stock portfolio and a Thorium ETF, which will allow the public to track the thorium economy.[38]
Annual conferences
TEA has organized annual conferences since 2009, where scientific sessions and cross-cutting energy and fuel management discussions bring together a cross-section of interested domain experts.[39] The inaugural conference in 2009 took place in Washington, D.C., followed by California (2010), Washington, D.C. (2011), and Chicago (2012). The 2013 annual conference was held in Chicago, May 30–31.
The tenth conference, TEAC10, was held at the Pollard Technology Conference Center in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, on October 1, 2019.
The eleventh conference, TEAC11, was held on October 13–15 2022 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History in Albuquerque. TEA has sponsored the production of a new exhibit on thorium energy and advanced reactors. The conference occurred with participation of the University of New Mexico, Abilene Christian University Nuclear Department, the museum, and the support of several of the startups that TEA has assisted with technological support and policy information.
↑Makhijani, Arjun; Boyd, Michele (2009). "Thorium Fuel: No Panacea for Nuclear Power"(PDF). Institute for Energy and Environmental Research and Physicians for Social Responsibility. Retrieved February 3, 2013.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
