Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of the use of thorium as a source of nuclear energy.

DECC maintains an interest in the global potential of thorium nuclear fuels.

In 2012, DECC published an initial comparative assessment of thorium and uranium technologies in nuclear power electricity generation. This is available online at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/thorium-and-uranium-fuel-cycles-comparison-by-the-national-nuclear-laboratory.

DECC also draws on the expertise of its national laboratories to model nuclear scenarios that include the use of thorium. These are used to inform research and development needs on thorium nuclear fuel cycles. An overview of these are included in the document “Nuclear Energy Research and Development Roadmap: Future Pathways”, published in March 2013, available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nuclear-energy-research-and-development-roadmap-future-pathways