South African thorium energy producer Steenkampskraal Thorium (STL) and its associate company, Norway-based thorium producer Thor Energy, completed three years of a five-year test qualification period for the world’s first commercial thorium uranium pellet fuel for light water reactors (LWRs) this month.

The tests, which are being conducted in the Halden reactor, in Norway, could transform the nuclear industry by enhancing safety and replacing uranium with safer fuel, says STL chairperson Trevor Blench.
Approval of the pellet fuel will enable the pellets to be used in LWRs around the world as a safe alternative to uranium-only fuels without the need for modifications to existing nuclear reactors.
“This month, a new batch of thorium pellets will be inserted into the Halden research reactor, a test LWR, by Thor Energy, a company in which STL has an investment,” he notes.

He adds that the Korea Atomic Research Institute is one of the organisations working closely with Thor Energy as part of the programme.

Korea has 24 uranium-based nuclear reactors, each the size of Koeberg, and is investigating the possibility of replacing uranium pellets with a combination of uranium and thorium pellets as the standard fuel.

“A number of regulators globally are closely monitoring the progress and, to date, the tests are going well, with no problems experienced.”

The countries with the most uranium-based nuclear reactors are the US, France, Japan, China and South Korea. These are all potential clients for thorium-based pellet fuel.
“The pellet-based thorium/uranium fuel, when qualified in the next two to three years, could be used worldwide to replace uranium in most LWRs,” Blench points out.

He adds that the safety and nuclear proliferation implications are significant.

“By using a thorium combination, there is very little plutonium production, making it extremely difficult to manufacture a nuclear weapon,” he notes.

This, he says, addresses the risk of nuclear proliferation. Plutonium can also be mixed with the thorium, creating a means of plutonium disposal and incineration of the reserves throughout the world.
In South Africa, STL is also preparing an application that will be submitted to the South African National Nuclear Regulator for pregeneric design assessment for the licensing of a locally designed helium-based, gas-cooled modular pebble-based thorium/uranium reactor.

The process substantiates the design concept regulatory approval.
There are two types of gas reactors – carbon dioxide (CO2) and helium.

is the older technology – now surpassed by helium, an inert gas which cannot burn and is therefore safe. CO2 can present health and safety risks, including fire and harmful emissions. Helium exhibits none of these risks.

“STL’s helium-based gas-cooled reactor will not need to be located at the coast or near a river and can be situated at the exact point where the energy is needed, with only small requirements for water,” he concludes.