TTHORIUMHORIUM AASS AANN EENERGYNERGY SSOURCEOURCE - Opportunities for Norway N Permian, Oslo igneous province Devonian sedimentary basins Caledonian Nappe Complexes 2008 Neoproterozoic arenites Precambrian supracrustals/ Caledonised Precambrian gneiss complexes/ Caledonised Location of Th enrichments Prepared by the Thorium ReportReport Committee January, 2008 Thorium as an Energy Source - Opportunities for Norway Published by the Thorium Report Committee, February 2008. The Committee was appointed by the Research Council of Norway (RCN), on behalf of the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy (OED). Secretariat: Institute for Energy Technology (IFE) The Research Council of Norway: www.rcn.no The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy: www.regjeringen.no\oed ISBN 978-82-7017-692-2 (printed) ISBN 978-82-7017-693-9 (electronic) Front Page Picture: Source: Geological Survey of Norway (NGU) ii Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY....................................................................................................................1 2. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................6 2.1 THE WORLD ENERGY SITUATION .............................................................................................................6 2.2 THE WORLD ELECTRICITY SITUATION......................................................................................................7 2.3 THE EU SITUATION ..................................................................................................................................9 2.4 THE SITUATION IN NORWAY...................................................................................................................10 2.5 STATUS OF NUCLEAR ENERGY ...............................................................................................................14 2.6 URANIUM RESOURCES............................................................................................................................16 2.7 THORIUM RESOURCES ............................................................................................................................19 2.8 WORLDWIDE ACTIVITIES ON THORIUM ..................................................................................................21 3. THORIUM RESOURCES IN NORWAY .........................................................................................22 3.1 RESOURCES - GEOLOGICAL ENVIRONMENTS WITH ELEVATED THORIUM LEVELS ..................................22 3.1.1 Thorium in Alkaline Complexes and their Pegmatites...................................................................23 3.1.2 Thorium in Granitic Pegmatites.....................................................................................................23 3.1.3 Thorium in Carbonatites................................................................................................................23 3.1.4 Thorium in Heavy Mineral Sand....................................................................................................24 3.2 THE FEN COMPLEX IN TELEMARK COUNTY............................................................................................24 3.3 SUMMARY OF THE THORIUM RESOURCES IN NORWAY ...........................................................................27 4. THE FRONT END OF THE THORIUM FUEL CYCLE ...............................................................30 4.1 THORIUM ORE PROCESSING....................................................................................................................30 4.1.1 Mining and Extraction ...................................................................................................................31 4.1.2 Refining..........................................................................................................................................31 4.1.3 Reduction to Thorium Metal or Thorium Oxide.............................................................................32 4.2 STATUS OF THORIUM FUEL FABRICATION TECHNOLOGY .......................................................................32 4.2.1 Thorium Metal Fuel .......................................................................................................................32 4.2.2 Thorium Oxide Fuel.......................................................................................................................33 4.2.3 Mixed Oxide Fuel...........................................................................................................................33 4.2.4 Industrial Prototype Fabrication Plants for Fuels Containing Thorium.......................................34 4.3 FUEL PROPERTIES AND PERFORMANCE...................................................................................................36 4.3.1 LWR Fuel Performance .................................................................................................................36 4.3.2 HTGR Fuel Performance...............................................................................................................37 5. NUCLEAR REACTORS FOR THORIUM ......................................................................................38 5.1 PROPERTIES OF THE FERTILE MATERIAL THORIUM-232 .........................................................................39 5.2 PROPERTIES OF THE FISSILE MATERIAL URANIUM-233 ..........................................................................40 5.3 PAST EXPERIENCES.................................................................................................................................41 5.3.1 Light Water Reactor (LWR) ...........................................................................................................43 5.3.2 High Temperature Gas Cooled Reactor (HTGR) ..........................................................................43 5.3.2.1 AVR (Atom Versuchs Reaktor) .................................................................................................................44 5.3.2.2 THTR (Thorium High Temperature Reactor) ............................................................................................44 5.3.2.3 HTR as Converter and Breeder Systems....................................................................................................46 5.3.2.4 Gas Turbine-Modular Helium Reactor (GT-MHR) ...................................................................................47 5.3.3 Molten Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE) ......................................................................................47 5.3.4 Conclusion .....................................................................................................................................47 5.4 FUTURE NUCLEAR ENERGY SYSTEMS ....................................................................................................48 5.4.1 The Indian Advanced Heavy Water Reactor Design (AHWR) .......................................................48 5.4.2 Generation IV Reactors .................................................................................................................51 5.4.3 Molten Salt Reactor (MSR)............................................................................................................53 5.4.4 Accelerator Driven System (ADS)..................................................................................................55 5.4.4.1 History .......................................................................................................................................................56 5.4.4.2 Description of the ADS..............................................................................................................................56 5.4.4.3 Sub-criticality and the Accelerator.............................................................................................................60 5.4.4.4 Technology Issues of Medium-to-High Power Spallation Targets for ADS ..............................................60 5.4.4.5 Safety Aspects of Accelerator Driven Systems..........................................................................................62 iii Thorium as an Energy Source - Opportunities for Norway 5.4.4.6 Advantages of the ADS..............................................................................................................................65 5.4.4.7 Disadvantages of ADS...............................................................................................................................66 5.4.4.8 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................66 5.4.4.9 Status of ADS R&D Activities...................................................................................................................67 5.4.4.10 Roadmap for an Experimental ADS in Europe ..........................................................................................69 6. THE BACK END OF THE THORIUM FUEL CYCLE ................................................................. 71 6.1 THORIUM CYCLE IN REACTORS.............................................................................................................. 71 6.1.1 Once-Through (Open) Thorium Cycle........................................................................................... 71 6.1.2 Closed Thorium Cycle ..................................................................................................................