§ Mr. Formanasked the Secretary of State for Energy what investigations are being made by his Department or by bodies responsible to his Department into the possibilities of alternative nuclear fuel cycles, such as that based on thorium and uranium.
§ Mr. EadieAlternative fuel cycles are the subject of continuous consideration by most of the major nuclear power organisations in the world. In the United Kingdom most of these investigations are 385W carried out by the Atomic Energy Authority which has studied uranium/plutonium and thorium/uranium fuel cycles and mixtures of the two in relation to various types of nuclear reactor. Its efforts in this field are currently concentrated on participation in the International Nuclear Fuel Cycle Evaluation.
The fuel cycle in use throughout the world now is a uranium/plutonium cycle. In order to introduce thorium cycles it is necessary first to recycle plutonium with thorium in a reactor or to make greater use of highly enriched uranium 235. All of these have been studied in the past by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority and are currently being re-examined in the context of nuclear weapon proliferation risks.