Tournament: Northwestern | Round: All | Opponent:  | Judge: 

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====Despite failing mechanisms the Obama administration continues to back nuclear power as the keystone of its carbon neutral energy policy.====
Popular Science, 2011 ~March 15th, "Secretary Chu Says U.S. Administration Remains Committed to Nuclear Power" http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2011-03/secretary-chu-says-administration-remains-committed-us-nuclear-power-industry-http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2011-03/secretary-chu-says-administration-remains-committed-us-nuclear-power-industry, V. Guevara~

In testimony today before a Congressional subcommittee, Energy Secretary Steven Chu stood behind the
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Congress today that "We will learn from this." Let’s hope so.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission continues to grant license extensions.

Rubin 12 ~Joe, Center for Investigative Reporting "Aging Nuclear Reactors:  Are we doing enough to ensure safety?" Huffington Post http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joe-rubin/nuclear-reactor-safety_b_1336085.html-http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joe-rubin/nuclear-reactor-safety_b_1336085.html, V. Guevara~

In the U.S., all nuclear power plants were initially licensed to operate
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reactors have been-http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-07/california-nuclear-backlash-mounts-after-japan-meltdown-energy.html relicensed. No applications for license renewal have been rejected.

The issue is not with nuclear power but with the reactor design. LFTRs can’t meltdown and can’t be weaponized.

Blue Ribbon Commission 11 ~May 19th, "The Thorium Paradigm" http://www.brc.gov/sites/default/files/meetings/presentations/thorium_paradigm_package_m_conley.pdf-http://www.brc.gov/sites/default/files/meetings/presentations/thorium_paradigm_package_m_conley.pdf, V. Guevara~

In the partial meltdown at Three Mile Island in 1979, the cooling system failed
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would roll right over it, like a truck over a manhole cover.
 

Thus the plan:  the United States Federal Government should remove all restrictions to the formation of a thorium bank in the United States.

Advantage 1 is Warming

Warming is real and anthropogenic- Prefer scientific consensus to their hack deniers.

Lewandowsky and Ashley 11 (Stephan Lewandowsky, Professor of Cognitive Studies at the University of Western Australia, and Michael Ashley, Professor of Astrophysics at the University of New South Wales, June 24, 2011, "The false, the confused and the mendacious: how the media gets it wrong on climate change," http://goo.gl/u3nOC)

But despite these complexities, some aspects of climate science are thoroughly settled. We
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the 19th century, pre-dating even Sherlock Holmes and Queen Victoria.

Tipping points are coming soon – Uranium mining independently ensures devastating warming.

Rincon 08 ~Paul, BBC Broadcasting, "Nuclear’s CO2 cost ’will climb’", http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7371645.stm-http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7371645.stm~~ 

The case for nuclear power as a low carbon energy source to replace fossil fuels
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an important contribution to clarifying the impact of nuclear energy on CO2 emissions. 

In order to avoid the catastrophic consequences of Climate Change, drastic change in our greenhouse gas emissions are necessary.

Romm 12 ~Joe, June 10, Dan Yergin’s Dilemma: Energy ’Reality’ Vs. Climate Reality, Think Progress, http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/06/10/496960/dan-yergin-dilemma-energy-reality-vs-climate-reality/-http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/06/10/496960/dan-yergin-dilemma-energy-reality-vs-climate-reality/ RR~

The 2007 U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s "Fourth Assessment Report
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95 percent below 1990 levels), even if developing countries make substantial reductions.

We are not science, we use science – our method is the same one everyone inevitably uses on a day-to-day basis, just more rigorous.

Bricmont 1, Jean professor of theoretical physics at the University of Louvain, "Defense of a Modest Scientific Realism", September 23, http://www.physics.nyu.edu/faculty/sokal/bielefeld_final.pdf-http://www.physics.nyu.edu/faculty/sokal/bielefeld_final.pdf

So, how does one obtain evidence concerning the truth or falsity of scientific assertions
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between the alternative theories if indeed they should be regarded as different theories.

You should err on the side of solving warming because climate change could be irreversible even if the evidence is debatable.

Sunstein 07 (– Professor of Political Science Cass R., Professor in the Department of Political Science and at the Law School of the University of Chicago, 2007, "Worst-Case Scenarios", Harvard University Press) MattG

Most worst-case scenarios appear to have an element of irreversibility. Once a
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regulators should proceed with far more aggressive measures than would otherwise seem justified.

Warming magnifies every impact and causes extinction.

Burke 08 (Sharon, sr fellow and dir of the energy security project at the Center for a New American Security, Chapter 6 of Climatic Cataclysm: The Foreign Policy and National Security Implications of Climate Change, edited by Kurt Campbell, p 157-165) 

At the same time, however, the implications of both trends for human society
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, given the collapse of the MOC, which will compromise agricultural productivity. 

Advantage 2 is Space

Pu-238 is critical for deep space missions and NASA is running out. Without more, the space program will collapse and the U.S. will cease to be the leader in space.  Up to now, the only way Pu-238 could be created was as a byproduct of nuclear warhead production.

Chow 2011 ~Denise, staff writer @ Space.com, November 22nd "Mars Mission May Be Curtain Call For Plutonium-Powered Spacecraft"  http://www.space.com/13709-plutonium-shortage-nasa-planetary-science-future.html-http://www.space.com/13709-plutonium-shortage-nasa-planetary-science-future.html, V. Guevara~

For 50 years, NASA has used plutonium-238 as the fuel source for
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be that close to the edge before we’re out of capability is irresponsible."

Each ton of thorium used in a LFTR produces over %241 billion in useful byproduct materials, including Plutonium 238 for NASA missions.  A LFTR fleet could solve NASA’s shortage without building new warheads.

Sorenson,-http://thoriummsr.com/tag/chloride-reactor/ 10 ~Kirk, retired NASA engineer %26 founder of Flibe Energy, December 6th "Is Nuclear Waste Really Nuclear Waste" Google Talk, http://thoriummsr.com/tag/chloride-reactor/-http://thoriummsr.com/tag/chloride-reactor/, V. Guevara~

Each metric tonne of thorium consumed in a LFTR could produce:¶ 9900 GWe*
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and neodymium¶ and many lives saved through clean electricity and medical radioisotopes.

And, every year that the U.S. goes without producing Pu-238 is time lost on humanity’s clock to explore deep space.

Aerospace Industries Association 12 ~"Continued U.S. Leadership in Deep Space Exploration Depends on Restarting Plutonium Fuel Production"  http://www.aia-aerospace.org/assets/2012%20AIA%20Pu-238%20White%20Paper%20-%20SC%20FINAL.pdf-http://www.aia-aerospace.org/assets/2012 AIA Pu-238 White Paper - SC FINAL.pdf, V. Guevara~

AIA is deeply concerned that the U.S. government cannot produce an adequate
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losses of technical capability and expertise for ¶ important deep space power generators. 

The cost of every second that we postpone the development of deep space technology is 100 trillion lives.

Bostrom 03 ~Nick, Professor, Faculty of Philosophy %26 Oxford Martin School
Director, Future of Humanity Institute, "Astronomical Waste: The Opportunity Cost of Delayed Technological Development" Utilitas Vol. 15, No. 3 pp. 308-314 http://www.nickbostrom.com/astronomical/waste.html-http://www.nickbostrom.com/astronomical/waste.html, V. Guevara~

With very advanced technology, a very large population of people living happy lives could
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point in time (no time-discounting), the conclusion will hold.¶ 

Solvency

All the private sector needs is for Congress to authorize a thorium bank to allow for the development of thorium for energy.

Halper 12 ~Mark, Smart Planet Contributing Editor %26 Forbes writer, "Join the Thorium Bank" Smart Planet, http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/intelligent-energy/solve-the-energy-and-rare-earth-crisis-join-the-thorium-bank/17845-http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/intelligent-energy/solve-the-energy-and-rare-earth-crisis-join-the-thorium-bank/17845, V. Guevara~

¶ Two problems: Most countries in the West lack policy that supports thorium nuclear
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give us a pathway so that people can invest intelligently¶ and safely."

The time is now.  The American economy and the world’s ability fulfill its energy demands hinges on the creation of a federally sanctioned thorium bank.
Martin 12 ~Richard, editorial director for Pike Research, the leading clean energy research and analysis firm, Super Fuel: Thorium, the Green Energy Source for the Future, p. 189, V. Guevara~

A centralized rare earths facility would enable producers to invest¶ together in federally sanctioned
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," Kennedy told me. "If we miss it, we’re toast."

The U.S. could have 1000 LFTRs online in less than 20 years.

Sorensen 10 ~Kirk, Fmr NASA engineer %26 Founder of Flibe Energy, TEAC2 Conference Keynote, http://energyfromthorium.com/2010/03/29/-http://energyfromthorium.com/2010/03/29/, V. Guevara~

With this approach, plutonium from weapons and reactor fuel will start about 70 chloride
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can make it happen. May we have the wisdom to do so.

Jumpstarting development of LFTR reactors averts runway warming – reliance on uranium is counterproductive and doesn’t achieve sufficient levels of reduction.

Hansen 08 ~heads the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City, a part of the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. He has held this position since 1981Letter to Obama, http://www.columbia.edu/~~jeh1/mailings/2008/20081121_Obama.pdf-http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/mailings/2008/20081121_Obama.pdf~~ 

The Liquid-Fluoride Thorium Reactor (LFTR) is a thorium reactor concept that
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goals’, half-measures, greenwashing, and compromises with special interests. 

Even if they win a solvency deficit establishing a formal precedent through thorium will jumpstart a "green" economy.

Johnson 6 (Brian, BS Nuclear Engineering from Oregon State U, later received a Ph.D. in Nuclear Science and Engineering from M.I.T., "Thorium for Use in Plutonium Disposition,Proliferation-Resistant Fuels for DevelopingCountries, and Future Reactor Designs,"  ~www.wise-intern.org/journal/2006/Johnson-ANS.pdf~, jam) 

As it stands, the joint plutonium disposition plans of the United State and Russia
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, the United States could become a leader in thorium-based technology. 

This would trigger key reductions in carbon emissions—that’s essential to slow and reverse anthropogenic climate change.

Hargraves and Moir 11 Robert Hargraves, teaches energy policy at the Institute for Lifelong Education at Dartmouth, PhD in physics from Brown, and Ralph Moir, Sc.D. in nuclear engineering from MIT, published 10 papers on molten-salt reactors during his career at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, "Liquid Fuel Nuclear Reactors," Physics %26 Society, January 2011, http://www.aps.org/units/fps/newsletters/201101/hargraves.cfm-http://www.aps.org/units/fps/newsletters/201101/hargraves.cfm

Burning coal for power is the largest source of atmospheric CO2, which drives global
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, ending 10 billion tons per year of CO2 emissions from coal plants.