Modular Thorium Reactor - ThorCon MSR

itheo.org ^ | 12 January, 2015

[ckilmer]

Modular Thorium Reactor - ThorCon MSR

12 January, 2015

Martingale reveals a bold approach to solving the global issues of poverty, pollution, energy security, and climate. Today Martingale is announcing its ThorCon liquid-fuel nuclear reactor design for cheap, reliable, CO2-free electricity.

ThorCon is a complete system of power generation modules, interchange maintenance, and liquid fuel service that produces energy cheaper than coal. Principal engineer Jack Devanney led a four-year “skunkworks” project that has created a new kind of nuclear power plant, integrating proven technologies with breakthrough approaches to manufacturing and licensing. Production can start by 2020.

Former MIT professor Devanney’s background in shipbuilding created respect for low-cost, high-precision, block-unit manufacturing at Korean shipyards. He saw how such prefabricated blocks could enable production of enough nuclear power plants to make a global difference, a hundred a year.

Author Robert Hargraves writes that selling so many power plants requires clear, simple economics, cheaper than coal. Coal is today’s energy choice of developing nations, now planning to build over 1400 gigawatt-size coal power plants to enable their economic development.
Hargraves says “Yes, at 3 cents/kWh the ThorCon electricity will be cheaper than gas. But for most of the world coal will be the fuel of choice for electric generation, unless we can provide a cheaper alternative.”

Lawrence Livermore Lab veteran nuclear scientist Ralph Moir says that today’s nuclear power industry is wedded to expensive solid-fuel nuclear reactors, even though the simplicity of liquid fuels was demonstrated at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Moir and Devanney modernized that design for mass production. ThorCon uses uranium and thorium fuel dissolved in molten salt to create a power plant that makes electricity cheaper than coal.

Stanford engineering alums Chris Uhlik and Lars Jorgensen contributed to the design of passive safety functions that operate without mechanical or electronic controls, even with no power. The reactor is 30 meters underground. Overheating drains the fuel salt from the reactor. There are four barriers between the fuel salt and the atmosphere. ThorCon is walk-away safe.

Taking another lesson from Oak Ridge, Martingale advocates a return to staged testing of physical prototypes for new nuclear reactor designs. This made the US the world standard for nuclear designs in the 1960s. Martingale supports adoption of the same license-by-test model that has enabled US leadership in aviation and drug discovery.

Martingale is designing ThorCon in the US while targeting its first installations in forward-looking countries that support technology-neutral nuclear regulations and see the benefits of the license-by-test process. ThorCon opens up a practically limitless supply of low-cost, reliable, carbon-free power by 2020.

ThorCon Power

Last updated 12 January, 2015

Media Coverage

[ckilmer]

at 3 cents/kWh the ThorCon electricity will be cheaper than gas.
.................
That’s 1/2-1/3 the cost of cheapest coal or natural gas.

[Dick Bachert]

The rate here in the South is 11 cents/KWH.

[Dick Bachert]

The rate here in the South is 11 cents/KWH.

[ConservativeMind]

Sounds great.

[bigbob]

This tech has great potential. Keep the government the hell away from it.

[ConservativeMind]

Don’t confuse the electricity cost with the added cost of transport.

My current Kwh cost (at this moment - 10 AM) is 3.1 cents.

http://www.powersmartpricing.org/prices/

My transportation cost is separate.

[rlmorel]

Thorium reactors are a GREAT concept, but the problem is, the environazis and liberals, who are immune to logic, business acumen, common sense, and, ironically enough, REAL environmentalism, will fight them every single inch of the way.

Just because the word “reactor” is in the description and the key ingredient ends with “ium”.

Emotionalism trumps all for them, and they have power now.

What will likely happen is the Chinese or the Russians will make huge strides in them and deploy them, and we will buy from them out of shame.

[ConservativeMind]

The only reason coal is so expensive is due to excessive government regulation.

[bigbob]

In fact, we probably could have had this 30 years ago if not for DOE’s politically-driven meddling. And that bitch Jane Fonda and her stupid movie...

[lafroste]

at 3 cents/kWh the ThorCon electricity will be cheaper than gas.

Don't worry. Government safety oversight will help move that cost to a more reasonable $6/KWhr, no problem.

[Patriot777]

Yep, you’re right on the money; “reactor” and “ium” and hang another shingle around their neck worded “hysterical”, in addition to the hat and t-shirt worded “wind” and “solar”.

[9thLife]

Taking another lesson from Oak Ridge

[9thLife]

Hmmm...windium....solarium....

You're right.

[Star Traveler]

There are plans for “neighborhood sized” plants that you bury in the ground and forget them, until you dig it up to refuel. The neighborhood can have their own wiring, in that case. No “transportation costs” needed ... :-) ...

[ConservativeMind]

The transport costs are the infrastructure costs (electricity lines, poles, etc.), which include labor for maintenance. The cost of electricity on the spot market is effectively what those prices at my link above are (but I pay a small fee ($2.50/month) for “day ahead” pricing, which is kept profit neutral, because I don’t want to be predicting the costs myself, everyday). There is probably a small fee for line loss, depending on how far away the electricity is that bought this way.

[ckilmer]

Another company called Flibe is said to be working around the current regulatory restraints by designing thorium reactors for US military bases for which no regulator restraints apply.

The US DOE is currently funding a Canadian thorium reactor company which also is not under current US regulatory constraints.

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission NRC doesn’t have any rules yet that apply to the molton salt designs. All of their regulations were designed for light water reactors.

I think there will be some movement in this area in the next couple years.

Whether its fast enough to get the 4-5 US companies involved in 4th generation msr tech into first place in the molten salt reactor race remains to be seen.

[ckilmer]

In fact, we probably could have had this 30 years ago if not for DOE’s politically-driven meddling. And that bitch Jane Fonda and her stupid movie...
..................
There were a bunch of really bad mistakes that were made in the 1970’s.

The abandonment of thorium reactors was one. The abandonment of desalination membrane research was another. The FDA drive to lower fat in the American diet in favor of sugar was a third.

[Maine Mariner]

Which is why those countries will continue to grow and we will watch their standards of living go up and ours stagnate or even decrease slightly.

[Moonman62]

Martingale is designing ThorCon in the US while targeting its first installations in forward-looking countries that support technology-neutral nuclear regulations and see the benefits of the license-by-test process.

...

More than likely, Martingale is looking for non-thinking suckers to give them money.