THORIUM AND THE RARE EARTH ELEMENTS ("REEs")

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ARTICLES ABOUT THE REES AND THORIUM

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

U.S. LEGISLATORS BACKING PRO-THORIUM BILL

Nuclear energy is, at present, the only viable large scale alternative to either continued fossil-fuel dependency (the OPEC stranglehold, in conjuction with "Big Oil") or to conventional Uranium-powered reactors. Uranium has two common-sense disadvantages: 1) the public has been beseiged by media articles touting the hazards of transuranic waste and the likelihood of the dreaded "Homer Simpson" meltdown or leak scenario, and 2) the supply of Uranium is rapidly dwindling -- it is a depletable resource with a limited useful half-life. Thorium is obviously safer, more plentiful, and available in significant concentrations in the Lemhi Valley District here in the United States. Thorium Energy, Inc. is the single largest claimholder.



In simplistic terms, the bill (which is in the process of being finalized and which has a great deal of political weight behind it), being championed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senator Orrin Hatch, will not only benefit America's efforts toward energy self-suffiency, but will serve to benefit the home states of these two legislators economically, and will address concerns held by many parties, both domestically and internationally, that we utilize a basic fuel source which can not be readily converted to weaponry in the hands of a nation or a terrorist radical organization having an interest in wreaking havoc throughout the civilized world.



In terms of the immediate benefits of the passing of the proposed bill, THORIUM ENERGY'S holdings would likely increase by a significant multiple in value. Just on the increasing media atention being paid to proposed pro-thorium legislation, offers from accredited investors for large blocks of the Company's holdings are coming in in greater numbers, with increasing bids.



A recent article which appeared in ENERGY WASHINGTON WEEK will be of great interest:


Reid Eyes Backing Bill To Encourage Thorium Fuel In Nuclear Power
_______________________________________________
Date: April 16, 2008 -


Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) may add his support to a bill that would encourage the use of thorium fuel in nuclear power reactors as a way to promote an expansion of nuclear power while addressing nonproliferation concerns. Proponents of a thorium fuel cycle argue it is a superior fuel choice to currently used uranium because it is resistant to weapons proliferation, produces far less radioactive waste, and breaks down weapons grade plutonium to produce power. Thorium fuel advocates are also highlighting these attributes to the environmental community, in hopes of getting support from organizations that have been wary of expanded nuclear power.

A spokesperson for Reid said the senator has communicated with Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), who reportedly has drafted potential legislation. Although final decisions have not been made on the content of a Reid-Hatch bill, Sen. Hatch has a specific proposal in mind which may provide the basis for a plan that Reid would support.

“Reid, at Sen. Hatch’s urging, is generally considering supporting legislation to promote the use of thorium instead of uranium,” the spokesperson said. “No decisions have been reached on possible introduction, content or timing.”
Congressional sources say that a thorium fuel cycle is particularly appealing to Reid because the reduced radioactive waste could ease pressure to open the Yucca mountain repository, which is located in Reid’s home state of Nevada. Reid has long fought efforts to develop the storage site.

Sen. Hatch has drafted legislation that would direct the NRC to craft regulations for a thorium fueled nuclear reactor. Separate offices would be created at both the NRC and the DOE to regulate the thorium facilities. The offices would also develop recommendations on how the Secretary of Energy could encourage domestic and foreign power providers to use thorium in reactors, thereby taking the place of uranium fueled reactors which produce plutonium that can be used for nuclear weapons.

In addition, the draft bill calls on the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory to carry out various projects that would demonstrate thorium fueled nuclear power generation.

A source in Hatch’s office says the bill does not necessarily create incentives for the use of thorium, but rather opens the door for the fuel if commercial forces want to deploy it. “It could be the future for nuclear power,” the source said. A thorium fueled reactor has four advantages over a reactor operating with uranium. It requires plutonium to trigger the initial reactions and thereby acts as a non-proliferation agent. Unlike uranium reactors, thorium fueled reactors don’t produce plutonium that can be used in weapons. The draft bill notes that thorium resources are also more available than uranium. Finally, a thorium fueled reactor produces about one third the waste produced from a similar uranium fueled reactor, easing storage and disposal concerns.

An industry source who supports the Hatch proposal said he requested that Reid delay introduction of any bill in order to buy time to court the environmental community, which tends to oppose federal subsidies for nuclear power. The source hopes the benefits of thorium will bring environmentalists on board.

A source with the Natural Resources Defense Council said that a thorium cycle is preferable to a uranium cycle for the non-proliferation and waste reasons, but was not aware of any pending legislation.

The industry source views the Hatch proposal as one that would ensure that the NRC is adequately staffed and has the ability to license a reactor fueled with thorium. The CANDU reactor, which is used in Canada and abroad typically uses uranium but can switch to thorium fuel without major changes to the reactor. However, reactors in the United States would need to be modified to use thorium. The source believes that were thorium to be used in the U.S., existing reactors would be modified before dedicated thorium reactors would ever be built. -- Will Harrington
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As mentioned many times on this blog, all roads lead to Thorium. And this looks like the fastest road to our preferred destination.


--THORIUM ENERGY, INC.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

ALL ROADS LEAD TO THORIUM

The gentleman clad in white in the photograph to the right is a "regular guy" in Kuwait, who is the process of filling up his gas tank. The fact that he is frugal enough to pump his own gasoline should not be wasted on anyone. He is actually (metaphorically speaking, anyway) "recycling" his wealth, and stimulating the local economy of Kuwait. If I were a gambling sort of fellow, I would wager that this chap was paying a great deal less for his gasoline at the pump than you or I have to.

Crude was up and over $115 U.S. per barrel recently in the United States and in other non-oil-producing nations. These are energy-dependent countries which are populous with tremendous demands for fossil fuels and limited price elasticity of demand when it comes to the "juice of life" (years ago, this was slang for blood...now it's found its way into being slang for gasoline).

Iraq, virtually the 51st State of the U.S. (albeit tax-exempt and non Spanish-speaking), is now amassing billions of dollars from international oil sales while the United States continues to expend billions on the war effort in their country. The U.S. and many of its G-8 allies sink deeper into a horrific recession (largely precipitated and exacerbated by higher fuel prices), while Iraq enjoys a windfall. A skeptic would question exactly what is driving the price of oil up -- there are many possible answers, but none of them sounds remotely like "free enterprise," or "The Law Of Supply and Demand." Oil is a controlled commodity, and it is becoming increasingly expensive as we drag our feet in acknowledging that we need an alternative. We don't need more oil -- we need an alternative. Now. And it is right here, in the form of Thorium.

Now, after years of behaving like a heroin addict looking for a new drug dealer instead of lasting treatment, the United States is joining its energy-consuming counterparts in seriously exploring alternatives. Some of these alternatives currently under consideration include:

  • SHALE - Essentially this is the same old goo (oil) from a neglected source;

  • SAND OIL - About as viable as Shale, but ridiculously expensive to process;

  • ETHANOL FROM CORN - While this is good fuel (ask any hillbilly), it appears that the transformation from oil to ethanol will be quite time-consuming, expensive and risky -- corn farmers, anticipating a bonanza, are actually cutting their plantings to elevate the price of corn through "manufactured" scarcity. There could be a whole future generation of corn sheiks. So much for the myth that farmers are fools;

  • COAL - It's filthy, it's poisonous, but it persists like a bad case of psoriasis -- and many Green Lobby proponents simply do not have a grasp of the facts concerning the inherent hazards of coal power;

  • HYDROELECTRIC POWER - A romantic idea (it brings to mind Niagra Falls, etc.), but not economically or logistically practical. Also, as water shortages increase, or power supply decreases;

  • WINDPOWER - The Men Of La Mancha are still tilting at windmills -- just not enough power capability;

  • SOLAR ENERGY - A sensible back-up in equatorial countries, but simply not viable as a primary source;

  • BEANS (See "Windpower"... just kidding) - and

  • THORIUM-BASED REACTORS.

Canada and China are working aggressively toward Thorium-powered safe reactors as a primary substitute for oil. India is the most progressive in the race to throw off the yoke of oil dependency through Thorium-fueled atomic power. In New Delhi, the first experimental Thorium-based reactor, commissioned by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), attained first criticality (power-producing capability) last week!

BARC's 300 MW Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR), will derive more than two-thirds of its power from Thorium. A recent article describes India's program and planning in detail. It is indeed worth reading.

For years the Western world joked about China's being a backward nation. Let us be careful not to make the same mistake again: Let's watch India very closely.

- THORIUM ENERGY, INC.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

COAL REVISITED - THIS TIME, AS THORIUM'S "DIRTY COUSIN"

There is plenty of coal in the ground, both within the United States, and internationally. It has been used as a fuel before, with limited viability, and at great cost to the environment and to all life within its vicinity. It continues to be a topic of revisitation whenever oil prices (and resultant prices at the gasoline pump) are rising or whenever the availability of oil is threatened due to political or economic instability.

Proponents of coal persist in reciting the virtues of its availability, its price, and its safety. These same adherents will always cite a nuclear power plant tragedy (i.e., the Chernobyl meltdown) as the reason that we have to turn away from nuclear power and revert to coal, the preferred fuel in the romantic days of Charles Dickens.

The essence of the argument is always this: "If we stick with coal, we'll never have to worry about a nuclear reactor incident." This is not unlike saying, "If we drive everywhere, then we'll never have to worry about dying in a plane crash."

Both comparisons are equally ridiculous, and are unsupported by actual logic or statistics. They are both based upon sensationalized misperceptions. In the same manner that automobile-related fatalities outnumber airline disasters by several orders of magnitude, coal-related problems are far more dangerous, and do far more damage (consistently and cumulatively) than the additive consequences of every leakage or meltdown incident involving conventional nuclear reactors since the beginning of the era of nuclear energy!

Burning coal produces smoke, ash and particulate matter laden with toxins (poisonous carbon monoxide, sufides, acidic corrosives and even airborne radioactive material, all of which accelerate global warming, all of which are toxic to plant and animal life, and all of which befoul the atmosphere). This does not happen occasionally, or by accident -- it is an inherent hazard associated with burning fuels through combustion. Remember "coal miner's lung"?

If I were a canary (which is quite a stretch, admittedly), I would rather have my family picnic several yards away from a Thorium-based (or even a Uranium-based) reactor than several miles away from a coal-burning plant. I would be much safer. So would my family.

The irony here is that it is becoming increasingly well-recognized that coal-burning produces more radioactive thorium ash (which is thrown into the air and blown about by the wind) than a nuclear reactor. That's correct -- burning coal produces more air-borne radiation than a nuclear reactor does.

There are several interesting blogs of note which discuss this. Click on http://greenoptions.com/ and http://ecoscraps.com/ .

Thorium-based reactors are a safer alternative. Ask any canary.

-THORIUM ENERGY, INC.




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