Nuclear inquiry urged to consider thorium reactors
Australia's only expert in accelerator-driven nuclear reactors says
the Federal Government's nuclear inquiry needs to examine their use.
Dr Reza Hashemi-Nezhad argues the reactors will be important for
waste management.
The doctor of physics says accelerator-driven reactors, using the
less radioactive thorium, produce power but not plutonium.
However the inquiry is only examining the economics of uranium
reactors, and of mining and selling thorium.
Dr Hashemi-Nezhad says the prototype reactor can provide one solution
to nuclear waste.
"Only these systems are capable of incinerating nuclear waste, both
from these accelerators themselves and also from the conventional
nuclear reactors," he said.
Dr Hashemi-Nezhad says the eventual waste is not as long-lived as
waste from conventional reactors, and thorium is plentiful in
Australia.
