Blix to advise Thorium Power
05 February 2008
Former IAEA director general Hans Blix has joined US-based company Thorium Power as a senior advisor. Paying tribute to Blix's "unquestioned integrity", Thorium Power executive chairman Thomas Graham said the company was honoured to be joined by the former IAEA chief who is currently chairman of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission. "We are pleased that he has chosen to join us in our efforts to assist nations in establishing nuclear programs founded on transparency and non-proliferation," he said. Blix, who has been a leading advocate for the peaceful expansion of civil nuclear power, said he was pleased to join the company at a time when many nations were considering developing a nuclear power industry. "The nuclear renaissance will only live up to its promise if nations deploying nuclear power embrace the twin standards of non-proliferation and full compliance with international safeguards," said Blix. Thorium Power describes itself as "a nuclear energy pioneer and the leading developer of thorium-based nuclear fuels," as well as providing "comprehensive" advisory services for emerging nuclear programs. Nuclear fuel based on thorium, significantly more abundant in nature than uranium, would be much more resistant to weapons proliferation than uranium fuel. Thorium Power has been involved in an ongoing fuel testing program with Russia's Kurchatov institute since 2002.