<p>DECC is aware of the potential of thorium as a nuclear fuel and thorium fuel cycles fall within the scope of the Department's analysis of future nuclear scenarios.</p><p>The UK is actively involved in thorium cycle research through organisations such as the National Nuclear Laboratory and the UK Research Councils' Energy programme. It has drawn on the expertise of these to model nuclear scenarios that include the use of thorium. These are not exhaustive, but a current overview is presented in the document “Nuclear Energy Research and Development Roadmap: Future Pathways”, which is available from:</p><p>https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nuclear-energy-research-and-development-roadmap-future-pathways</p><p>Amongst its conclusions are the expectations thorium reactors would be subject to the same fuelling limitations in roll-out as fast reactors, in which the rate of commissioning is constrained by the rate of production of start-up fuel from the existing reactor fleet.</p><p>Thorium fuels are also likely to differ from, uranium fuels in their waste characteristics, including their radiological properties and the amounts of heat they generate. These waste characteristics will vary with the type of reactor in which thorium fuels are used and individual systems may offer significant advantages or barriers to the waste's management and final disposal. Further analysis and fuel cycle modelling will be necessary to understand the implications on waste management and disposal of using thorium fuels.</p>