Lightbridge Fields Veteran Diplomats To Bolster Nuclear Business

Executives of Lightbridge Corp. (LTBG) hope the company's roster of heavy-hitters in nuclear-weapons diplomacy will give it an edge in the global power market.

The McLean, Va.-based company, formerly known as Thorium Power, develops nuclear-fuel technology designed to prevent weapons proliferation. Lightbridge's senior adviser is Hans Blix, former director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency and the United Nations' top weapons inspector prior to the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. The executive chairman of the company, which made its debut on Nasdaq Friday, is Thomas Graham, Jr., a former U.S. ambassador involved in nuclear weapons talks during the Clinton administration. Other political heavyweights advising Lightbridge include Susan Eisenhower, who has advised the U.S. Department of Energy on nuclear proliferation issues, and Michael Howard, a former leader of the U.K.'s Conservative Party.

Countries across the globe are building new nuclear power plants to meet growing energy demand and to reduce the heat-trapping gases emitted by coal- and gas-fired plants. But concerns remain about the possibility of using spent nuclear fuel to develop weapons.

Lightbridge's technology uses thorium, a common and slightly radioactive metal, in combination with uranium. The thorium prevents the uranium from breaking down into weapons-grade plutonium, said Seth Grae, Lightbridge's president and chief executive, in an interview.

The thorium-fuel design "removes one of the obstacles" to nuclear power plant development, Grae said. The technology is also 5% less expensive than conventional uranium-fuel assemblies, he added.

The company is collaborating with France's Areva S.A. (ARVCY, CEI.FR) on its fuel design and hopes to provide the technology to other reactor operators and builders such as General Electric Co. (GE), Areva and Westinghouse Electric Co., which is owned by Japan's Toshiba Corp. (6502.TO).

"We want to be a supplier, not a competitor, to GE, Westinghouse and Areva," Grae said.

Lightbridge is advising the United Arab Emirates on the country's plans to build a civilian nuclear fleet, and the company's thorium-fuel technology may be deployed there. The fuel design could also be used in countries with long-established nuclear fleets, such as the U.S., and Japan, which has had early-stage discussions with Lightbridge about using the technology, Grae said.

Shares of Lightbridge were recently trading at $11.50 apiece.

-By Christine Buurma, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2143; [e-mail]