Nuclear energy fuels measure

COLUMBUS

There’s a growing interest among state lawmakers in “liquid core molten salt reactors and small modular reactors” and “liquid fluoride thorium reactors.”

Seriously.

Most of the members of the Ohio House said so last week, when they overwhelmingly adopted HCR 9, which calls for increased study, development and investment in such nuclear technologies “as a long-term solution to Ohio’s energy needs.”

The Ohio House and Senate have already adopted dozens of resolutions this session, honoring various high school sports teams, memorializing public servants who have died, recognizing different historic events and offering opinions on significant policy issues.

All of it is symbolic, outlining lawmakers’ on-the-record thoughts on different people and issues without mandates for action.

In recent days, lawmakers in the House went on record supporting “a sustainable energy-abundance plan for Ohio to meet future Ohio energy needs with affordable, abundant and environmentally friendly energy.”

Thorium and uranium

The resolution notes that “America possesses a nearly inexhaustible supply of thorium and uranium (more than a billion years) that dramatically exceeds all known potential energy reserves” and “the elements thorium and uranium have the practical potential to provide unlimited energy resources for Ohioans and Americans on demand in the near future and to provide many other tangible benefits.”

Rep. Terry Boose, R-Norwalk, a primary sponsor of the resolution, described the benefits of the technology during a brief floor discussion, calling it “a type of nuclear power production which uses the element of thorium in place of traditional uranium as its fuel source ... [The reactors] utilize molten salts as a coolant mechanism instead of the traditional water coolants in traditional nuclear reactors. These salts allow for a much lower pressure nuclear core, an inherent safety improvement over traditional reactors.”

He added, “... It is virtually impossible [for these reactors] to experience a meltdown.”

Ohio, the resolution continues, is uniquely positioned to research and commercialize these reactors, thanks to its NASA and military facilities and universities. And that potentially could mean “40,000 manufacturing jobs” for the state.

There’s a lot of other stuff in the five-page resolution, including mentions of “molybdenum-99,” the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the American Medical Isotopes Production Act of 2011.

HCR 9 calls on the state to encourage development of the energy technologies and urge the federal government to adequately fund and create rules for small modular reactors and liquid core molten salt reactors.

The resolution was OK’d on a vote of 97-1. For once, most lawmakers were on the same page on an energy policy issue, in particular one focused on nuclear technologies.

The lone “no” vote came from Rep. Debbie Phillips of Albany, D-94th.

“The question I have is about security and what kind of security provisions are in place if we’re talking about an increasing number of small reactors in terms of controlling access to the material and making sure that we don’t run national security risks as a result,” she said.

The resolution heads to the Ohio Senate for further consideration.

Marc Kovac is The Vindicator’s Statehouse correspondent. Email him at mkovac@dixcom.com or on Twitter at OhioCapitalBlog.