MOLTEN SALT REACTOR
Posted on 09/05/2015 11:07:08 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
For years nuclear scientists have talked about a revival of molten salt reactors, which are powered by a liquid fuel rather than solid fuel rods, that will help spark the long-awaited “nuclear renaissance.” Recent developments indicate that this alternative nuclear power technology is finally making progress toward commercialization.
A consortium of research institutes and universities working under the aegis of the European Commission, including the Technology University of Delft (TU Delft), in the Netherlands, France’s National Center for Scientific Research, and the Commission’s Joint Research Center, in Brussels, in August embarked on a four-year research program designed to demonstrate the safety benefits of molten salt reactors. Called “Safety Assessment of the Molten Salt Fast Reactor,” or Samofar, the effort will lead to the building of a prototype reactor in the early 2020s if all goes as planned.
First built and tested in the 1960s, at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, molten salt reactors would be the first genuinely new technology for nuclear power generation to reach the market in the last three decades. Producing zero carbon, they use a radioactive solution that blends nuclear fuel with a liquid salt. They can run on uranium, but are also ideally suited for thorium, an alternative nuclear fuel that is cleaner, safer, and more abundant than uranium.
Molten salt reactors also offer inherent safety advantages: because the fuel is liquid, it expands when heated, thus slowing the rate of nuclear reactions and making the reactor self-governing. And they’re built like bathtubs, with a drain in the bottom that’s blocked by a “freeze plug.” If anything goes wrong, the freeze plug melts and the reactor core drains into a shielded underground container. They can operate as producers of thermal power or as “burner” reactors that consume nuclear waste from conventional reactors.
(Excerpt) Read more at technologyreview.com ...
I want one.
BFL
RE: I want one.
LOL. This reminds me of Mao’s “Great Leap Forward” — A Steel Furnace in every backyard.
yet China is building Pebble Bed Reactors
Producing zero carbon, they use a radioactive solution that blends nuclear fuel with a liquid salt. They can run on uranium, but are also ideally suited for thorium, an alternative nuclear fuel that is cleaner, safer, and more abundant than uranium.
Looks promising.
And as soon as the government subsidy company, G.E., corners the market on construction of these they will be a boon to America. LOL these have been a viable alternative to the insane tower tubs for decades, but GE must be served.
Looks good.
Point of contention:
Thorium will not support a fission chain reaction. It can be exposed to neutrons and eventually decay to U233, which is a fissionable fuel. Chemical separation removes protactinium produced from the thorium. A reactor can breed fuel from thorium; but, actually operates on U233.
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