Recent statement of Professor Carlo Rubbia, Physics Nobel prize, on thorium energy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUXcD3gf3Xk
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ITHEC (international Thorium Energy Committee, Geneva) and IThEO (International Thorium Energy Organization, Stockholm) announce the organization of an international conference on scientific and technical possibilities offered by thorium as an alternative nuclear technology for energy production and for the destruction of nuclear waste. ThEC13 will be held in the Globe of Science and Innovation at CERN from 27 to 31 October 2013 .
The field of nuclear energy is rapidly changing, and many nations have launched research and development programs aiming at the construction of a new generation of nuclear power plants based on thorium instead of uranium, and offering a so far unmatched security. The technology also offers the possibility of destruction of present and future nuclear waste, providing a response to the acute environmental and moral problems posed by its storage. China and India are actively supporting with considerable resources several initiatives in this direction, and the United States, Japan, South Africa and Norway are also evaluating this
The ITHEC association, born out of scientific and political circles in Geneva, collaborates with the Swedish organization IThEO in setting up an international conference to be held at CERN, Geneva, from 27 to 31 October 2013. It should be noted that it was in two dedicated CERN experiments that Nobel laureate Carlo Rubbia and his team laid down and tested the basic concepts of a thorium reactor driven by a proton accelerator. The conference, bringing together key players in the field to review and discuss the results of their research, is intended for scientists as well as political and industrial leaders. IThEO has previously co-organized three thorium conferences, in London in 2010, New York in 2011 and Shanghai in 2012.
Energy demand worldwide is growing rapidly and the many benefits of nuclear energy based on thorium in terms of safety, non-proliferation of nuclear material, reduction of nuclear waste and CO2 emissions is making this technology particularly attractive. With the current state of research, it is a realistic possibility that the first thorium nuclear reactors will be up and running in about twenty years.
Destruction (transmutation) of nuclear waste is also a key asset of Thorium-based plants and provides a solution that combines the advantages of reducing the volume and lifetime of existing nuclear waste, while paving the way for the production of safe nuclear energy to serve as base-load together with renewable energy in a future sustainable energy mix.
ITHEC is a non-profit organization based in Geneva, promoting the use of thorium for nuclear waste destruction and as a sustainable nuclear energy source, which is both safe and proliferation resistant.
IThEO is a non-profit organization, based in Stockholm, Sweden, campaigning for Thorium energy by organizing international conferences in partnership with other organizations.
Thorium is a silvery white metal of the actinide family, discovered in Norway in 1829 and named after the Nordic God Thor. It is four times more abundant than uranium in the earth's crust and is a by-product of the extraction of rare earths. Although industrial applications today are marginal, it has enormous potential as nuclear fuel.
