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Terrestrial Energy Announces Appointment of Internationally-Recognized Authority on Sustainability to International Advisory Board
NEW YORK, NY – November 30, 2015 – Terrestrial Energy announces the appointment of Ben Heard of Australia to its International Advisory Board. Mr. Heard is a globally recognized authority on climate change mitigation and corporate sustainability. He has advised large and small corporations on climate and sustainability matters.
This appointment demonstrates the Company’s core commitment to developing commercially-viable, sustainable, clean-energy technology that can rapidly drive global decarbonization of the primary energy system. Mr. Heard is a thought leader in ecological issues, who strongly advocates for advanced nuclear technology as an essential part of the climate solution.
Ben Heard is a principal of Australian-based consultancy, ThinkClimate Consulting, and popular analyst and commentator through Decarbonise SA, where he provides research, analysis, and strategy development in sustainability and climate change to the private sector. He has advised large corporations on a range of climate, sustainability and stakeholder consultation challenges. Mr. Heard has taught sustainability and climate change at University of Adelaide, where he is also pursuing his PhD in Clean Energy Systems and Advanced Nuclear. Mr. Heard has a Masters in Corporate Sustainability Management from Monash University in Victoria, Australia.
Simon Irish, chief executive of Terrestrial Energy, commented on the appointment:
“The energy industry is at a crossroads created by fuel ecological impact and policy response. Terrestrial Energy’s IMSR technology has game-changing ecological ramifications for the energy industry and these require expert handling. Terrestrial Energy is therefore delighted to be working with Mr. Heard in this capacity. He is one of today’s ecological and sustainability thought leaders, and will assist the Company with one of its core objectives: to demonstrate that Terrestrial Energy is a leading industrial energy innovator that is addressing the central problems of climate change and energy sustainability.”
About Terrestrial Energy
Terrestrial Energy is developing a next-generation nuclear reactor based on its Integral Molten Salt Reactor (IMSR) technology. The IMSR represents true innovation in cost and functionality. It will offer reliable power solutions for electricity production, both on- and off-grid, and also energy for industrial process heat generation. These together extend the applicability of nuclear energy far beyond its current footprint. With this profile, the IMSR is capable of driving the rapid global decarbonization of the primary energy system by displacing fossil fuel combustion across a broad front. It is complementary to renewable power sources and ideal for distributed power systems on existing grids. Using an innovative design and proven Molten Salt Reactor technology, the IMSR can be brought to global markets next decade. Terrestrial Energy is currently developing its IMSR commercial demonstration power plant for deployment in Canada.
Terrestrial Energy will be represented at COP21 in Paris, France, the week of December 7, 2015. COP21 is the 21st Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. COP21 is the largest climate change conference to-date. Terrestrial Energy is proud to be taking part, and ensuring the rightful position of advanced nuclear technology as a significant agent of decarbonization. The Company is registered for the Sustainability Innovation Forum, which is an event organized by the United Nations Environment Programme. SIF15 is the largest side event of COP21, and the largest business-focused event at COP21. The Company’s advisors are also engaged in various speaking engagement in the Generation Climat section, within Le Bourget. |
Written by Ben Heard, Founder and Executive Director, Bright New World
Congratulations Ben!
🙂
Good one, Ben!
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I believe in you. Congratulations!
So do I, and it never hurts to know others feel the same!!!
Thanks.
Exceedingly pleased and proud to have Ben on board!
Now, it’s time to get to work!
If I recall Ben praised the Enhanced Candu 6 reactor in the Zero Carbon Options report. As input into the Sen. Edwards submission to the Royal Commission the GEH Prism specifically or IFRs generally were advocated. Now the IMSR.
However ZCO won me over. For Adelaide region EC6 is about the right size, load following complements must-take wind power and uncurtailed residential solar. The EC6 is compatible with other fuel cycles like depleted uranium and thorium. Perhaps IMSR can do that but it’s not ready yet. The RC winds up in May 2016 and it would help to have off-the-shelf technologies to consider.
Congrats for the appointment but what should we do in the next couple of years?
I hope the answer becomes “all of the above”.
If SA and Australia follow the pathway of deep and rapid decarbonisation I recommend then tech that is commercially available right now will play a role. Enhanced CANDU remains an excellent technical fit in my opinion. Part of the prospects though remain with the vendor, which is now SNC/Lavelin. Other than the effort to win the UK plutonium situation, I am unclear as to whether there are serious efforts to bring EC6 to market, efforts that would help make it the obvious choice for Australia. That’s obviously out of our control.
The PRISM plus industrial-scale pyroprocessing offers the opportunity to access the billions from used fuel permanent custody in an integrated project. In the process we would develop extraordinary expertise and operating environment for advanced reactors and a range of other important nuclear science. Specific reactor for a specific goal and process.
In the IMSR from TE I see a reactor with potentially game-changing characteristics for deployment on a truly global scale: low-cost, high quality control, superb fuel efficiency, amazing safety profile, rapid disposition capabilities for actinides and versatility. I will be delighted if we can make South Australia a part of that development and deployment process. The indications TE gave in their submission to the Royal Commission were, in my opinion, some of the most exciting potential pathways on offer. Bear in mind this is an international advisory board for a Canadian company with a global-scale ambition; my engagement will be bigger than just South Australia.
You correctly note some evolution as a long-time follower of this blog. Realise, that evolution is not me hopscotching my favorite reactor; it’s me learning more and more about what is available, what is needed, and the importance of exploiting multiple important pathways to a goal.
A cautionary note that particularly applies to SA is that of dry rock geothermal
http://www.geodynamics.com.au/Our-Projects/Innamincka-Deeps.aspx
As recently as 2011 it was supposed to solve the coal baseload problem. In the last year or so we’ve been told of a utility death spiral due to batteries. Still waiting on that one.
Well done Ben, great achievement.
With even greater achievements to come of it I hope.
Many thanks.
Ben,
Congratulations on your appointment,
Regards, Ross Elliott
Director Business Development – Australia StarCore Nuclear (Canada)
M: +61 419 906 861 ross.elliott@StarCoreNuclear.ca http://www.starcorenuclear.ca
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Many thanks Ross.
Well done Ben!
If you ever plan on visiting Toronto and Terrestrial Energy in person, please give me a ping. I’d like to talk to you about doing a talk for CFI (Center for Inquiry) Canada on green energy.
Cheers,
Sounds like a plan. I’ll keep you posted.
Your news is excellent! My new book Nuclear is for Life: A Cultural Revolution is launched tomorrow. Full text accessible on http://www.nuclear4life.com also available as hardcopy. Review copy available.
Wade Allison, MA DPhil wade.allison@physics.ox.ac.uk Emeritus Professor of Physics and Fellow of Keble College, University of Oxford, UK “Nuclear is for Life. A Cultural Revolution” 2015 ISBN 9780956275646 http://www.nuclear4life.com “Radiation and Reason” 2009 ISBN 9780956275615 http://www.radiationandreason.com “Fundamental Physics for Probing and Imaging” 2006 http://www.oup.co.uk/isbn/0-19-920389-X ________________________________
Yeah. Good one Ben. You’ve come a long way since your comparative recent conversion to nuclear. Keep up the good work.
Cheers
Terry
Some thoughts on ILW, HLW and 4th generation nuclear. From numerous comments in other media I think it will all come back to Woomera Prohibited Area
http://www.defence.gov.au/woomera/zones.htm
That’s despite former premier Rann ruling it out in 2004. Residents in the shortlisted ILW sites say that it will be a decoy for the HLW site therefore it should be in Maralinga. See Emu on the map in the link. Maybe that’s not a bad idea. One of the existing mines could be converted to a deep repository when the ore runs out but there is existing infrastructure combined with restricted access.
A contrary view expressed by an RC witness is that each state should have an ILW site. Woomera area could easily handle all of it and ironically could be the original source of some uranics. Ideally SA would have a reprocessing plant and 4th generation or heavy water reactor on the coast. Just a beeline to Woomera for deep depositing of unwanted transuranics with the hospital waste etc nearby.