Thorium Energy Security Act of 2022 can now be read:
https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/4242/text
...you just gotta read it in full, but here's 3 happy-fun-time sections...
SEC. 7. INTERAGENCY COOPERATION ON PRESERVATION AND TRANSFER OF URANIUM-233.
The Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of the Army (including the head of the Army Reactor Office), the Secretary of Transportation, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and other relevant agencies shall—
(1) work together to preserve uranium-233 inventories and expedite transfers of uranium-233 to interim and permanent storage facilities; and
(2) in expediting such transfers, seek the assistance of appropriate industrial entities.
SEC. 8. REPORT ON USE OF THORIUM REACTORS BY PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA.
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States, in consultation with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, and the Administrator for Nuclear Security, shall submit to Congress a report that—
(1) evaluates the progress the People’s Republic of China has made in the development of thorium-based reactors;
(2) describes the extent to which that progress was based on United States technology;
(3) details the actions the Department of Energy took in transferring uranium-233 technology to the People's Republic of China; and
(4) assesses the likelihood that the People's Republic of China may employ thorium reactors in its future navy plans.
SEC. 9. REPORT ON MEDICAL MARKET FOR ISOTOPES OF URANIUM-233.
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Congressional Budget Office, after consultation with institutions of higher education and private industry conducting medical research and the public, shall submit to Congress a report that estimates the medical market value, during the 10-year period after the date of the enactment of this Act, of actinium, bismuth, and other grandchildren isotopes of uranium-233 that can be harvested without downblending and destroying the uranium-233 source material.
...whoo-eee.
If you want to promote S.4242 on Twitter consider boosting my Tweet...
https://twitter.com/gordonmcdowell/status/1529521481377796096
...which congratulates Senator Tuberville and Senator Marshall on the bill, and asks Secretary Granholm to please read DOE/IG-0795 (2008 U-233 Report) which is a pretty reasonable request I'd think.
Now that the bill's text is public, I can't think of any reason not to promote this bill. Reach out the to sponsors and your own legislators and let them know how you feel about "Thorium Energy Security Act".
Kirk Sorensen posted about the bill...
https://energyfromthorium.com/2022/05/18/thorium-act-released/
...he's got a nice index at the bottom of all his writings about the importance of Uranium-233. Goes back to 2006, that's 3 years before I'd even heard about Thorium.
Test Articles for Surrogate Materials Surveillance - Ting-Leung (Sam) Sham @ ORNL MSRW 2021
Gah... I forgot to hit PUBLISH a year ago? AND the video was left UNLISTED?!?
No idea how I managed to do that, and not notice for a whole year. Anyway... a 2021 ORNL MSRW video!
Surrogate Materials Surveillance Test Articles Development [PDF]:
Motivated by the SMT specimen that can introduce realistic structure-like mechanical response
Combined with the basic idea of using thermal expansion mismatch within a test article to generate “load” passively
Led to an initial concept for a passive surveillance test article
Difficult to find the right kind of thermal expansion mismatch to induce tensile “load” in the test material