Nuclear power, thorium | Solar and wind energy is good and good. Thorium is better

Our welfare community is funded by oil money. It is oil money that has enabled Norway to support working life and business through the Corona pandemic, and it is oil money that makes it possible to have such a high level of social welfare services as we have.

As oil revenues decline, we must increase revenues from other industries. Energy production from thorium reactors is, among other things, one such industry.

Click here to subscribe to newsletters from The Norwegian Discussion

Persistent touch anxiety

The skyrocketing price of the electricity we have today is partly due to the fact that the market will have more energy than we can produce. Increased production will lower prices. The green transition, in which oil-based energy is replaced by energy, requires increased electricity production. Wind turbines make a good contribution. Thorium is better.

We have a lot of experience in reactors and nuclear power in Norway. In 1946, nearly a year after the war ended, Norway took a remarkable seven-mile stride into the nuclear age. Five years later, our first nuclear reactor was ready for commissioning. Norway was the sixth country in the world to build a nuclear reactor. In 1951, the first reactor was opened at Keeler. Seven years later, a second nuclear reactor opened at Halden. In 2018 and 2019, the last reactors were closed.

The Ministry of Energy Technology, which operates the four nuclear reactors we have in Norway, has developed the knowledge that we have benefited from in the petroleum industry, within renewable energy, battery technology, carbon dioxide capture and storage, solar energy, nuclear safety, materials technology and a large number of other useful areas socially. Knowledge about nuclear energy has also proven useful for research in medicine to treat cancer.

There is a big difference between uranium reactors and thorium reactors. Thorium has a much shorter half-life than uranium, and thorium reactors can produce energy on waste from uranium reactors.

The European Union has defined nuclear power as a source of green energy. Still, we have touch anxiety. Some accidents scared us – naturally enough.

The Chernobyl accident in 1986 was not possible in reactors other than those built during the Soviet era. They used a different technology than Western reactors. Another thing is that today’s reactors are built in solid halls so that no radiation escapes from the plant.

Read also: One measure is not enough to alleviate the oil crisis

safety culture

We have an idea that nuclear reactors have claimed many lives. The fact is that the energy produced by oil and coal is much more dangerous than the energy from nuclear reactors. If all the energy produced from coal had been produced by nuclear reactors instead, we would have saved two million lives. Thorium reactors are safer than nuclear reactors.

Opponents of nuclear power claim that it is too expensive to build reactors, and look to Finland. France would not have decided to build 14 new reactors if it had been so expensive. Wind and solar energy are also very expensive.

An advanced safety culture is one of the strongest arguments for developing thorium reactors in Norway. The culture of safety in the North Sea has evolved significantly, and it is something we have learned a lot from. Norwegians are known for their responsibility. These are important characteristics that we can of course export with reactor technology.

future export essay

Some bold Norwegians once agreed to start oil production in Norway. It was technological development and value creation at that time for the country. The question of the day is whether our generation is equally farsighted and decides to intensify research and development of thorium reactors. It could be an export article in the future and help ensure that high luxury continues to be offered.

Read more of the Norwegian discussion here

Conservatives have not yet approved the development of nuclear power. At the national meeting this weekend, I am among those who want to make a change in this.