On October 2, 2008, the Senate proposed a bill (S.3680), "Thorium Energy Independence and Security Act of 2008", sponsored by Senator Hatch (UT) and co-sponsored by Senator Reid (NV). This is an excellent start and at a minimum introduces the thorium nuclear fuel cycle and its many advantages. Unfortunately, this bill is largely a mining support bill, as one of its main goals is to aid the mining of Idaho's Lemhi Pass(1).
The Bill is correct in its statement of benefits (safety, wastes, & nonproliferation) to existing nuclear reactors should they be converted from their current uranium-plutonium fuel cycle to that of thorium-uranium-233 fuel cycle. Unfortunately, most Democrats do not know their party's extensive history of support for thorium research and a meltdown proof reactor called the Molten Salt Reactor (MSR). It would be an ironic tragedy if Republicans were able to revive thorium and MSRs, both technologies that they killed.
