Garcia-Fontana Aff

1AC

Despite the benefits thorium tech hasn’t caught on in the US

Niiler ’12 (Eric Niiler, 02/20/12, Reporter for the Washington Post, Washington Post, "Nuclear power entrepreneurs push thorium as a fuel," http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/nuclear-power-entrepreneurs-push-thorium-as-a-fuel/2011/12/15/gIQALTinPR_story.html) BVG

The proposed fuel is thorium... 

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...with investigating future energy sources.
 

SMR deal should’ve triggered your DA’s

AP ’13 (Associated Press, 02/20/13, The Washington Post, “TVA signs deal to explore first small modular nuclear reactor for power generation,” http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/tva-signs-deal-to-build-test-first-small-modular-nuclear-reactor-for-power-generation/2013/02/20/c1faf98c-7b8f-11e2-9c27-fdd594ea6286_story.html) BVG

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee Valley Authority says it has…

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…local power distributors serving 9 million people in parts of seven southeastern states.

Plan: The United States Federal Government should substantially increase market-fixed production cost incentives for domestic deployment of small modular liquid fluoride thorium reactors.

Federal production cost incentives solve

Rosner & Goldberg ‘11(Robert, William E. Wrather, November 2011, Distinguished Service Professor, Departments of Astronomy and Astrophysics, and Physics, and the College at the U of Chicago, and Stephen, Energy Policy Institute at Chicago, The Harris School of Public Policy Studies, "Small Modular Reactors - Key to Future Nuclear Power Generation in the U.S.," https://epic.uchicago.edu/sites/epic.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/SMRWhite_Paper_Dec.14.2011copy.pdf) BVG

Assuming that early SMR deployments will carry cost premiums... 

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...offset a portion of production costs or a production tax credit.
 

DoD can approve of SMLFTR independently of the NRC – also speeds up commercialization 

Hunt ‘11(Gary L Hunt, 05/31/11, 30 years of experience in the energy, software and information technology industries, Tech Creative Labs, "Is there a Small Modular Nuke in our Distributed Energy Future?," http://www.tclabz.com/2011/05/31/is-there-a-small-modular-nuke-in-our-distributed-energy-future/) BVG

What the US military needs according to...

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...replace the first generation nuclear units as they retire.

LFTRs can be “SMRs” – SMLFTR construction speeds up from years to months
Barton ‘09 (Charles Barton, 02/15/09, knowledge of the LFTR comes primarily from my familiarity with my father's work, some training as a historian of science and I am sufficiently understanding of reactor issues to have a basic understanding of many technical documents, work is recognized by my peers among nuclear scientists most of whom have technical training, “The Greatest Bargain of the 21st Century,” http://nucleargreen.blogspot.com/search?q=small+modular+LFTR) BVG

The LFTR operates at a much higher temperature than LWRs…

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…Reactors could be built in periods of a few months rather than several years. 

SMLFTR can be used in all types of naval ships and it’s needed to make them more efficient

Steinhaus ’10 (Robert Steinhaus, 02/10/10, Nuclear Engineer for 30 years at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, “Would Thorium Powered Ships be better for the Navy?” http://yottawattsthorium.blogspot.com/2010/02/thorium-powered-ships-for-navy.html) BVG

The Navy is studying using alternative "green" fuels...

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...when applied in naval applications in smaller ships.

Adv 1 - 7th Fleet

US Navy is shrinking only 4 CVN’s will be active in the status squo – ONLY 1 will be in the 7th fleet
O'Brien ’12 (Robert C. O'Brien, 10/30/12, senior foreign policy advisor & former U.S. Representative to the United Nations, “Obama Failed to Mention Loss of Aircraft Carrier from Navy Fleet,” http://www.newsmax.com/US/Obama-debate-aircraft-carrier/2012/10/30/id/462127) BVG

In 2013, the U.S. Navy will have fewer carriers — 10 — than…

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…sadly demonstrates a lack of understanding of this critical issue by the current administration.
 
Scenario 1 – Island Disputes

China and Japan are quarrelling over islands- Left unchecked Island disputes escalate to war
Pomfret ’13 (John Pomfret, 02/05/13, staff writer for the Washington Post, “The U.S. interest in an Asian island dispute,” http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-02-05/opinions/36757731_1_senkakus-diaoyu-islands-china-and-japan) BVG

The tension in the East China Sea between China and Japan is…

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…when “there is a lengthy period without war.”
 

East Asian War escalates leads to nuclear war

Landy 2K [Jonathon, National Security and International Correspondent, Knight Ridder, March 10, p. Lexis] 

Few if any experts think China and Taiwan, North Korea and South Korea…

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…nuclear weapons and demolish the already shaky international nonproliferation regime.

Scenario 2 – North Korea

North Korea is building its nuclear arsenal – it will sell its nukes to the highest bidder – leads to multiple scenarios of extinction

Allison ’13 (Graham T. Allison Jr., 02/12/13, The New York Times, director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School, “North Korea’s Lesson: Nukes for Sale,” http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/12/opinion/north-koreas-lesson-nukes-for-sale.html?_r=0) BVG

THE most dangerous message North Korea sent Tuesday…

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…is the only guarantee that even the zealous, isolated North Koreans would hear. 

Proliferation causes global nuclear war – ensures extinction

Taylor ‘01 (Former nuclear weapons designer and chairman of NOVA, 2001, “Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons”)
Nuclear proliferation – be it among nations or terrorists – greatly increases the chance…
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…small nuclear war could easily escalate into a global nuclear war.
 

CVN’s successfully deter North Korea

Mazza ’13 (Michael Mazza, 02/14/13, Special to CNN, Currently the program manager for AEI's annual Executive Program on National Security Policy and Strategy, has studied and lived in China, studies defense policy in the Asia-Pacific, as well as Chinese military modernization, cross-Strait relations, and security on the Korean peninsula, “Seven ways to get serious with North Korea,” http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2013/02/14/seven-ways-to-get-serious-with-north-korea/) BVG

In fact, North Korea’s nuclear achievements have, to date, made it…

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…to North Korea: one that the Kim regime will actually take seriously.

7th fleet solves all the impacts
Valceanu ’12 (John Valceanu, 09/28/12, Journalist for American Forces Press Service, American Forces Press Service, “Naval Historian Describes U.S. 7th Fleet’s Impact in Asia,” http://www.defense.gov/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=118054) BVG
The U.S. 7th Fleet has played a key role in American foreign policy …
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…the Office of the Secretary of Defense as part of its History Speaker Series.
 

Adv 2 - Icebreakers

Violent sovereignty disputes are inevitable without US icebreakers
Borgerson '08 – International Affairs Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a former Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Coast Guard (Scott G., “The Economic and Security Implications of Global Warming,” Foreign Affairs, Vol. 87, No. 2 (Mar. - Apr., 2008), pp. 63-77)
Global warming has given birth to a new scramble for territory and resources among…

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…the region could erupt in an armed mad dash for its resources.

Russia concedes it will use military force
Bugajski 10 – Lavrentis Lavrentiadis Chair and director of the New European Democracies program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (Janusz, Winter, “RUSSIA’S PRAGMATIC REIMPERIALIZATION,” Caucasian Review of International Affairs, Vol 4(1), p.6)
The Foreign Policy Concept claims that Russia is a resurgent great power…

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…over energy sources escalating into armed conflicts near Russia’s borders.

So will the US
Gabuev 7 – Member of the Institute of Asian and African Sudiesl; Political Analyst and Staff Writer for Kommersant (Alexander, 8/4, “Cold War Goes North,” Kommersant, http://www.kommersant.com/p792832/Arctic_ocean_bed_causes_upsurge_of_Russia-West_competiton) 10/2/12 K. Harris

Apparently, judging by the U.S. Department of State’s reaction…

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…another field of the competition between Russia and the West.

China will too
Wright 11 – Prof of IR @ the U of Calgary (David Curtis, August, “The Dragon Eyes the Top of the World,” Naval War College, China Maritime Studies Institute, http://www.usnwc.edu/Research---Gaming/China-Maritime-Studies-Institute/Publications/documents/China-Maritime-Study-8_The-Dragon-Eyes-the-Top-of-.pdf, p.4) 

That the Arctic might emerge in the future as the theater…

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…the ultimate resolution of Arctic issues will have direct bearing on world security.  13 

The brink is now – International laws can’t solve
Rogate and Ferrara ‘12 – M.A. candidate at The Johns Hopkins University’s SAIS Bologna Center; M.A.I.A. candidate at The Johns Hopkins University’s SAIS Bologna Center (Chiara and Marco, 2012, “Climate Change and Power Shifts in the Arctic Region,” Bologna Center Journal of International Affairs, http://bcjournal.org/volume-15/climate-change-and-power-shifts-in-the-arctic-region.html)
The effects of climate change can be paradoxical. While contributing stress to world habitats…

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…interests rush to establish their claims and plant a foothold in this contested area.

Armed arctic sovereignty disputes go nuclear

Wallace & Staples 10 (Michael Wallace and Steven Staples., Professor Emeritus at the University of British Columbia AND  President of the Rideau Institute in Ottawa “Ridding the Arctic of Nuclear Weapons: A Task Long Overdue,”http:www.arcticsecurity.org/docs/arctic-nuclear-report-web.pdf)
The fact is, the Arctic is becoming a zone of increased military competition…

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…begin to recognize the geo-political/economic significance of the Arctic because of climate change.” 

Icebreakers solve Arctic mapping missions which resolve sovereignty disputes – prerequisite to effective treaties

Cohen 11 (Ariel, Senior Research Fellow for Russian and Eurasian Studies @ Heritage, PhD @ Tufts U, “RUSSIA IN THE ARCTIC: CHALLENGES TO U.S. ENERGYAND GEOPOLITICS IN THE HIGH NORTH”, RUSSIA IN THE ARCTIC, Strategic Studies Institute Monograph, July 2011, http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/PUB1073.pdf.) JPG

The policy statement urges the U.S. Senate to ap- prove the U.S. accession…

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…will help to de- termine whether Russian claims conflict with U.S. and Canadian claims.
 

Only nuclear power can fuel Icebreakers effectively 

Blain ‘11 (Loz Blain, 12/20/11, reporter on alternative energy and weapons, “How nuclear icebreakers work - and the reversible ships that will replace them,” http://www.gizmag.com/nuclear-icebreakers-double-acting-ships-azipods/20903/) BVG

In order to constantly provide enough power to shove that bulk up over mile…

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…stayed in service on the ice for 357 days without entering a port once.

Alternate 1AC

Despite the benefits thorium tech hasn’t caught on in the US
Niiler ’12 (Eric Niiler, 02/20/12, Reporter for the Washington Post, Washington Post, "Nuclear power entrepreneurs push thorium as a fuel," http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/nuclear-power-entrepreneurs-push-thorium-as-a-fuel/2011/12/15/gIQALTinPR_story.html) BVG

The proposed fuel is thorium...

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...national research labs charged with investigating future energy sources.
 

SMR incentives should’ve triggered your DA’s

US Department of Energy ’12 (US Energy Department, 11/20/12, United States Federal Government, “Energy Department Announces New Investment in U.S. Small Modular Reactor Design and Commercialization,” http://energy.gov/articles/energy-department-announces-new-investment-us-small-modular-reactor-design-and) BVG

As part of the Obama Administration’s all-of-the-above strategy...

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...furthering small modular reactor efficiency, operations and design.  

The NRC is halting new licenses because of the waste problem

Conca 8/11/12 (James, Forbes contributor, “Nuclear Waste Confidence – NRC Ruling No Big Deal”, http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2012/08/11/nuclear-waste-confidence-nrc-ruling-no-big-deal/)

There has been some fist-bumping this week in the anti-nuclear sector...

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...of long-term nuclear waste storage across the country.

 
Plan Text

Plan: The United States Federal Government should substantially increase market-fixed production cost incentives for domestic deployment of small modular liquid fluoride thorium reactors and remove the moratorium on current and future licenses.

Solvency

Federal production cost incentives solve

Rosner & Goldberg ‘11(Robert, William E. Wrather, November 2011, Distinguished Service Professor, Departments of Astronomy and Astrophysics, and Physics, and the College at the U of Chicago, and Stephen, Energy Policy Institute at Chicago, The Harris School of Public Policy Studies, "Small Modular Reactors - Key to Future Nuclear Power Generation in the U.S.," https://epic.uchicago.edu/sites/epic.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/SMRWhite_Paper_Dec.14.2011copy.pdf) BVG

Assuming that early SMR deployments will carry cost premiums...

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...including a direct payment to offset a portion of production costs or a production tax credit. 

LFTRs can be “SMRs” – SMLFTR construction speeds up from years to months
Barton ‘09 (Charles Barton, 02/15/09, knowledge of the LFTR comes primarily from my familiarity with my father's work, some training as a historian of science and I am sufficiently understanding of reactor issues to have a basic understanding of many technical documents, work is recognized by my peers among nuclear scientists most of whom have technical training, “The Greatest Bargain of the 21st Century,” http://nucleargreen.blogspot.com/search?q=small+modular+LFTR) BVG

The LFTR operates at a much higher temperature than LWRs...

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... in periods of a few months rather than several years.
 

Current reactors can be converted to thorium reactors - timeframe is immediate
Canon ‘09 (Bryan Canon, Journal of Energy Security, April 23 2009. “Thorium as a secure nuclear alternative”) 

There are no significant infrastructural impediments whatsoever...

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...which is a much easier, faster, safer and cheaper exercise.
 
Waste Adv

Nuclear Waste disturbs Native American land, impedes their sovereignty, destroys their culture, irradiates their environment ruins their economy, reinforces environmental racism & sets precedent for horrible treatment of minorities

Kamps ’01 (Kevin Kamps, served as Radioactive Waste Watchdog at Beyond Nuclear in Takoma Park,
Maryland since July, 2007 (Before that, he served in a similar role, as nuclear waste specialist at
Nuclear Information & Resource Service (NIRS) in Washington, D.C. since June of 1999, “Environmental Racism, Tribal Sovereignty and Nuclear Waste,” http://www.nirs.org/factsheets/pfsejfactsheet.htm) BVG

Nevadans and Utahans living downwind and downstream from nuclear weapons testing...

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...Native American environmental justice against corporate greed and environmental racism.

The terminal impact of native oppression is extinction.
Porter, 2002 (Robert B., Prof. of Law and Dir., Tribal Land and Govt. Cntr @ U of Kansas, former attorney general of the Seneca Nation, “The Meaning of Indigenous Nation Sovereignty” 34 Ariz. St. L.J. 75, L/N)

Viewed historically, then, it safely can be concluded...

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...increasing interaction and mixing with the colonists.
 

SMLFTR is safe and can consume nuclear waste
Nevada LSB ’12 (State of Nevada, 07/02/12, Legislative Counsel Bureau, “Responses to Solicitation Recommendations,” http://leg.state.nv.us/Interim/76th2011/Committee/StatCom/HLRW/Other/ResponsestotheSOR.pdf) BVG

Occupy  Carson  City  asks  that  the  Committee  on...

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...hard work you have done for the people of Nevada.
 
Meltdowns Adv

Current and future reactor types make meltdowns inevitable

Gronlund ‘07 (Nuclear power in a Warming world: Assessing the Risks, Addressing the Challenges, Lisbeth Gronlund;  David Lochbaum;  Edwin Lyman, Union of Concerned Scientists, http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/nuclear_power/nuclear-power-in-a-warming-world.pdf) JD

Safety problems remain despite a lack of   serious accidents...

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...tolerant of   safety problems so extensive that a year or more is   needed to fix them.
 

Meltdowns destroys agriculture – ensures extinction
Adams ‘11(Mike Adams, 09/13/11, Editor at NaturalNews.com, “Solar flare could unleash nuclear holocaust across planet Earth, forcing hundreds of nuclear power plants into total meltdowns,” http://www.naturalnews.com/033564_solar_flares_nuclear_power_plants.html) BVG

Imagine the devastation of 100+ nuclear power plants all going...

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...very, very small fraction of the total population.

LFTRs solve – meltdowns are physically impossible
Martin 12 (Richard Martin, author of "SuperFuel: Thorium, The Green Energy Source for the future”, Superfuel: Thorium, the Green Energy Source for the Future. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. Print.)

The reactor core in a LFTR includes a “freeze plug”...

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...reactor core, a meltdown is physically impossible.

Space Adv

Pu-238 shortage now – gov’t is producing it and its key to space exploration
NPR ’11 (National Public Radion, 11/08/11, Author - Nell Greenfieldboyce, NPR science correspondent, “The Plutonium Problem: Who Pays For Space Fuel?” http://www.npr.org/2011/11/08/141931325/the-plutonium-problem-who-pays-for-space-fuel) BVG

When NASA's next Mars rover blasts off later this month...

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...Johns, "because we need to start immediately."

LFTR can produce Pu-238 – leads to increase in space exploration
Sorensen ’13 (Kirk Sorensen, Accessed 1/28/13, masters’ degree in aerospace engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology Co-founder and Chief Technologist at Flibe Energy and World’s foremost expert on Thorium tech,  “Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator Basics,” http://www.thoriumenergyalliance.com/downloads/plutonium-238.pdf) BVG

NASA needs Pu-238 now. The Medical Community needs isotopes now...
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... will be generated in the Scientific and Health Research communities.
 

Space exploration key to space & science leadership
Aldrin ’12 (Buzz Aldrin, 1/05/12, Doctorate of Science in Astronautics at MIT & One of the first two people to walk on the moon, “American Space Exploration Leadership  Why and How,” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/buzz-aldrin/american-space-exploration_b_1184554.html) BVG

As we flip the calendar to 2012, we get the first blast of space news...

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...make these commitments, the sooner we all benefit from their extraordinary returns.   

That’s key to Science Diplomacy which solves everything

Dr. Federoff ‘08 (Nina, 04/02/08,  receiver of  the 2007 National Medal of Science in the field of Biological Sciences, the highest award for lifetime achievement in scientific research in the United States , “International Science and Technology Cooperation,” http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-110hhrg41470/html/CHRG-110hhrg41470.htm) BVG

Chairman Baird, Ranking Member Ehlers, and distinguished members...

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...in the U.S. and abroad among our allies, to advance U.S. interests in foreign policy.

No War

No great power war.
Mandelbaum ‘99- Professor of American Foreign Policy at Johns Hopkins University (Michael, Christian A. Herter Professor of American Foreign Policy, The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University; Director, Project on East-West Relations, Council on Foreign Relations “Is Major War Obsolete?”)

Why is this so? Most simply, the costs have risen and the benefits...

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...a pawn, not a sentry standing guard against an attack on a king.”

 
No nuclear retaliation

Dowle ‘05 (Marke, Graduate School of Journalism – University of California, Berkeley, California Monthly, September, http://www.alumni.berkeley.edu/Alumni/Cal_Monthly/September_2005/COVER_STORY-_Berkeleys_Big_Bang_Project_.asp)

Because terrorists tend to be stateless and well hidden...

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...the source nation could claim that the material had been stolen.

No nuclear escalation 

Robinson ‘01 [C. Paul, President and Director, Sandia National Laboratories, PhD Physics @ FSU, Chair of the Policy Committee of the Strategic Advisory Group for the Commander, US Strategic Command, 3-22, “Pursuing a New Nuclear Weapons Policy for the 21st Century,” http://www.sandia.gov/media/whitepaper/2001-04-Robinson.htm]

Let me then state my most important conclusion directly...

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...help shape and maintain a stable and peaceful world.

Nuclear war doesn’t cause extinction

Nyquist ‘99 [J.R., Political analyst at WorldNetDaily, “Is Nuclear War Survivable?” May 20, WorldNetDaily.com, http://www.antipas.org/protected_files/news/world/nuclear_war.html]

As I write about Russia's nuclear war preparation...

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...airburst mode, these weapons would produce few (if any) fallout casualties.