China is gearing up to activate the world's first 'clean' commercial nuclear reactor (molten salt thorium. waterless cooling)

LiveScience ^ | 7-23-21 | Ben Turner

[dynachrome]

Chinese government scientists have unveiled plans for a first-of-its-kind, experimental nuclear reactor that does not need water for cooling.

The molten-salt nuclear reactor, which runs on liquid thorium rather than uranium, is expected to be safer than traditional reactors because the molten salt cools and solidifies quickly when exposed to the air, insulating the thorium, so that any potential leak would spill much less radiation into the surrounding environment compared with leaks from traditional reactors.

The prototype reactor is expected to be completed next month, with the first tests beginning as early as September. This will pave the way for the building of the first commercial reactor, slated for construction by 2030.

As this type of reactor doesn't require water, it will be able to operate in desert regions. The location of the first commercial reactor will be in the desert city of Wuwei, and the Chinese government has plans to build more across the sparsely populated deserts and plains of western China, as well as up to 30 in countries involved in China's "Belt and Road" initiative — a global investment program that will see China invest in the infrastructure of 70 countries.

[Kevmo]

You really don’t understand that people won’t trust you with ANYthing once they know you’re a troll, do ya?

Best of luck with dat, troll.

[DuncanWaring]

Even if I were a troll, you still don’t understand the concept of half-life.

[Kevmo]

Feel free to update those search engine results, troll. They don’t respond with “it’ll be dangerous for 3 half-lives of fill_in_the_blank”, they respond with
It’ll be dangerous for 20,000 years.

Fix it. Troll.

[DuncanWaring]

You really think anyone google has any interest in any alternative views to their (among others) anti-nuke agenda?

I see you’ve taken my advice to switch to “20,000 years”.

I’ll see if I can find you a reference to 250,000 years (I’ve seen those, too).

And I never said “It’ll be dangerous for 3 half-lives...”, I said “In 30 half-lives, it’ll be down to one billionth of the original strength”.]

For a ~30-year half-life, such as strontium-90 and cesium-137, that’s 1000 years; not 10,000 or 20,000.

I didn’t intend to be a troll, but you’re making it fun.

At least I’m a troll who understands “half-life”.

[Kevmo]

[BwanaNdege]

https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/focus/chernobyl/faqs

10. Is it safe to visit the area now?

One may certainly visit the Chernobyl area, including even the exclusion zone, which is a 30 kilometre radius surrounding the plant, all of whose reactors are now closed. Although some of the radioactive isotopes released into the atmosphere still linger (such as Strontium-90 and Caesium-137), they are at tolerable exposure levels for limited periods of time. Some residents of the exclusion zone have returned to their homes at their own free will, and they live in areas with higher than normal environmental radiation levels. However, these levels are not fatal. Exposure to low but unusual levels of radiation over a period of time is less dangerous than exposure to a huge amount at once, and studies have been unable to link any direct increase in cancer risks to chronic low-level exposure.

[Kevmo]

https://colors-newyork.com/how-long-will-it-take-for-chernobyl-to-be-habitable/

How long will it take for Chernobyl to be habitable?
In the immediate aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster, thousands of people evacuated from cities in and around Ukraine. The immediate area inside the plant will be uninhabitable for at least another 20,000 years.

Can you live in Chernobyl now?
The areas surrounding the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, including the nearby city of Pripyat, have since deteriorated into abandoned ghost towns. But some residents have returned to their villages following the explosion and evacuation, despite dangerous levels of radiation, and some remain there today.