Tournament: GSU | Round:  | Opponent:  | Judge: 

Plan

The United States Department of Energy should establish a matching funds program to develop and build a Liquid Fluoride Thorium Nuclear Reactor.

Advantage 1 – Prolif

Advantage 1 is Prolif

Nuclear renaissance is eminent – it’s the only viable electricity source worldwide

Marketwire 12 – Part of the Paragon Report on uranium ore stock future
~[5/3/12, http://finance.yahoo.com/news/nuclear-renaissance-back-track-122000381.html~~]cs
NEW YORK, NY—(Marketwire -05/03/12)- Last year
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," Areva SA’s Chief Commercial Officer Ruben Lazo said in a previous interview.

The spread of nuclear power facilitates weapons development, triggering wildfire prolif and nuclear war – deterrence fails in the new international system

Sokolski 9 – Henry, Executive Director – Nonproliferation Policy Education Center
~[Jul, "Avoiding a Nuclear Crowd", Policy Review, June/July, http://www.hoover.org/publications/policyreview/46390537.html~~]cs
Finally, several new nuclear weapons contenders are also likely to emerge in the next
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, would ever want. None of this, however, is inevitable.

Terrorists have the motive and capacity to build a bomb with civilian nuclear materials

Barnaby 9 – Frank, Emeritus Consultant to the Oxford Research Group
~[March, http://www.ippr.org/images/media/files/publication/2011/05/nuclear_renaissance_1679.pdf~~]gw
There will also be a heightened risk that terrorists will acquire plutonium, fabricate a
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by terrorists to make nuclear explosives is an obvious threat to global security.

Nuke terrorism triggers global nuclear war with Russia and China

Ayson 10 – Robert, Professor of Strategic Studies and Director of the Centre for Strategic Studies: New Zealand at the Victoria University of Wellington
~["After a Terrorist Nuclear Attack: Envisaging Catalytic Effects," Studies in Conflict %26 Terrorism, Volume 33, Issue 7, July, Available Online to Subscribing Institutions via InformaWorld~]cn
A terrorist nuclear attack, and even the use of nuclear weapons in response by
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for the terrorists. This might not help the chances of nuclear restraint.

Thorium’s fuel cycle is self-sustaining based on U233 – all fissile material is contained within the reactor

Sorensen 12 – Kirk, Founder and Chief Technologist at Flibe Energy, Grad student in Nuclear Engineering, former Chief Nuclear Technologist at Teledyne Brown Engineering
~[8/4, http://www.peakprosperity.com/podcast/79398/kirk-sorensen-detailed-exploration-thoriums-potential-energy-source~~]gw
Kirk Sorenson:  Those are the best questions. The way thorium is used –
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neutrons to make new U233 from thorium – all U233 comes from thorium.

That substantially reduces the spread of fissile material

Sorensen 12 – Kirk, Founder and Chief Technologist at Flibe Energy, Grad student in Nuclear Engineering, former Chief Nuclear Technologist at Teledyne Brown Engineering
~[July, "Response to Oliver Tickell’s Anti-Thorium Article" http://energyfromthorium.com/tickell-rebuttal-jul-2012/~~]gw
LFTR’s end-to-end fuel cycle offers greatly reduced proliferation risks in large
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amenable to vitrification in an inert glassy form for long-term storage.

The plan revives US nuclear leadership – that’s key to strengthen international non-prolif initiatives

Miller 12 – Warren "Pete" Miller, Ph.D., Co-chair, Bipartisan Policy Center Nuclear Initiative and Former Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy
~[July, http://bipartisanpolicy.org/sites/default/files/Leadership%20in%20Nuclear%20Energy%20Markets.pdf~~]gw
Strategic Goal: Continued strong U.S. leadership in global nuclear security matters
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framed commerce and security not as competing objectives but as "inextricably intertwined."

Advantage 2 – Warming

Advantage 2 is Warming

Overwhelming scientific consensus indicates warming is accelerating and anthropogenic

Pearce 7 – Fred, environment consultant for New Scientist
~[With speed and violence: why scientists fear tipping points in climate change, GoogleBooks, pp. 10-17~]cn
First, the basic physics. As we have seen, much of this goes
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? Some of them can be heard making the case against climate change.

The impact is every extinction scenario

Burke 8 – Sharon, Senior Fellow and Director of the Energy Security Project at the Center for New American Security
~[Climatic Cataclysm: The Foreign Policy and National Security Implications of Climate Change, GoogleBooks, pp. 157-161~]cn
At the same time, however, the implications of both trends for human society
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, Central America, the Caribbean, South America, and Southeast Asia.

LFTRs substantially cut emissions and reverse warming trends

Hargraves 12 – Robert, teaches Energy Policy at the Institute for Lifelong Education at Dartmouth College, PhD in physics from Brown University
~[July, "THORIUM energy cheaper than coal"~]gw
Taiwan’s Taichung 4-4 GW coal power plant is the world’s largest. The
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ocean C02 absorption and acidification, harmful to sea life and food supplies. 

U.S. clean energy development key to global spillover

Roberts 4 – Paul, journalist, author, energy expert and writer for Harpers
~[The End of Oil, pg. 325-6~]cn
Politically, a new U.S. energy policy would send a powerful message
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business prospects in China that it now has its own vehicles in Beijing."

Solvency

Government support for private initiatives is key to rapid development – matching funds programs generate massive investment in LFTRs

Martin 12 – Award-winning science and technology journalist, editorial director for Pike Research
~[Richard Martin, Award-winning science and technology journalist %26 editorial director for Pike Research, SuperFuel: Thorium, the Green Energy Source for the Future, May 2012. (p. 232)~](NSB)
WHILE A NEW MANHATTAN PROJECT is not going to happen, some form of government
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for a total of %24 4 billion to %24 10 billion a year.

A successful R%26D project will spur commercialization by corporations

Hargraves 12 – Robert, teaches Energy Policy at the Institute for Lifelong Education at Dartmouth College, PhD in physics from Brown University
~[July, "THORIUM energy cheaper than coal"~]gw
Governments have an opportunity to incentivize corporations to undertake LFTR research and development. Once
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emitting energy from coal and reduce demand for energy from other fossil fuels.

The use of national labs solve any tech barriers – giving businesses access to them is key to LFTR development

Hargraves 12 – Robert, teaches Energy Policy at the Institute for Lifelong Education at Dartmouth College, PhD in physics from Brown University
~[July, "THORIUM energy cheaper than coal"~]gw
US National Laboratories are capable of developing LFTR. The US has many national laboratories
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step in to lead development, as is happening in China and France.

Advanced tech ensures LFTR development can be streamlined

Hargraves 12 – Robert, teaches Energy Policy at the Institute for Lifelong Education at Dartmouth College, PhD in physics from Brown University
~[July, "THORIUM energy cheaper than coal"~]gw
Shorter projects cost less and have less cancellation risk. I recommend a high priority
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-based electric power plant was built at Shippingport PA in 39 months. 

LFTRs are technologically feasible – the science is proven

Sorensen 12 – Kirk, Founder and Chief Technologist at Flibe Energy, Grad student in Nuclear Engineering, former Chief Nuclear Technologist at Teledyne Brown Engineering
~[July, "Response to Oliver Tickell’s Anti-Thorium Article" http://energyfromthorium.com/tickell-rebuttal-jul-2012/~~]gw
The primary uncertainty is bureaucratic, not technical. The fundamental physics, operation,
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fluid molten-salt reactor power station" such as the modern LFTR.

Public-private partnerships are successful at developing new tech and facilitating commercialization

Yin 12 – Clifton, Clean Energy Policy Analyst at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, Masters in Public Policy with a focus on environmental and regulatory policy from the Georgetown Public Policy Institute
~[7/31, http://theenergycollective.com/cliftonyin/98391/carbon-fiber-government-clean-tech-innovation-success-story~~]gw
Carbon fiber composites have been employed in racecars, sporting goods, and the aerospace
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, and nuclear power in the pantheon of government technology innovation success stories.