Very interesting — though I doubt Obama will pay the least attention to these distinguished gentlemen… Their letter is extremely well-crafted, focusing concisely upon the urgency of igniting rapid deployment of both slow and fast-neutron reactors; the solution to the “waste problem”; covers both uranium and thorium fuel cycles.
During the past few weeks, there has been a flurry of writing, revising and reviewing among a senior and accomplished group of people who believe that the United States needs all of the benefits that rapidly growing use of nuclear energy can provide.
The final product of the effort is a letter to Dr. John Holdren, Director, Office of Science & Technology Policy, Executive Office of the President. Here is the letter’s introduction:
John A. Shanahan, Corresponding Author
(Contact information removed)Dr. John P. Holdren
Director, Office of Science & Technology Policy, Executive Office of the President Washington, D.C.Dear John,
We met in Palo Alto, California in 1970, while you were working on your doctorate at Stanford University and I was starting an engineering career in nuclear power.(…)
We have two urgent recommendations.
First, we believe it‘s imperative to accelerate the licensing and building of slow neutron reactors, the kind now in use, commonly called thermal reactors or water-cooled reactors. For the last 30 years the LWRs in the United States and CANDU reactors in Canada have served us well. Nuclear plants also have the unique capability to convert swords into ploughshares. Under the 1993 US-Russian nonproliferation treaty, over 15,000 Russian nuclear warheads have already been disassembled, and their weapons-grade uranium converted to reactor-grade fuel, which is currently supplying half of the US nuclear electricity being generated. This program is scheduled to continue into 2013.
While the performance and safety records of the existing reactors have been excellent, the evolutionary improvements in new slow neutron reactors will take both safety and efficiency to an even higher level.
Second, we note that development of fourth-generation nuclear reactors will be needed if nuclear power is to expand significantly beyond its present market penetration — an expansion that is so necessary if our descendants are to have ample energy over the coming millennia. Therefore, we strongly recommend reinstating the development and demonstration of the technology for recycling used fuel — a goal of fast fourth-generation nuclear reactors — as epitomized by the U.S.-developed Integral Fast Reactor (IFR). The IFR transforms used fuel from a ―”waste” to a major energy resource, and in so doing it happens to resolve a major public concern about nuclear power — the safe use of the long-lived radioactive byproducts. Further, IFRs can utilize excess weapons plutonium effectively and rapidly, while generating revenue instead of costs — a development consistent with Russian recommendations.
Please continue reading… and thanks again to Rod Adams for highlighting this open letter. Not suprisingly, amongst the truly distinguished list of signatories is our own prof. Brook:
AUSTRALIA
Dr. Barry W. Brook, Sir Hubert Wilkins Professor of Climate Change, Director of Climate Science, The University of Adelaide. Member, Science Council for Global Initiatives.
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