Thorium plants are not cost effective. A year after they are put in service, you have to shut down and rebuild them. When it comes to plumbing, if brine won’t stick to it, it will eat through it.
I recall we once had a thorium plant, but it was dismantled since it did not produce bomb material as a byproduct.
Never heard anything about Brine issues.
I HAVE heard of more than one Thorium design, pebble bed reactors, etc.
This “New” design appears to nothing more than a refinement of the same old tech, nothing truly new or innovative.
The Chinese and probably even the English are on track to have Thorium plants before we do.
RIP American ingenuity leading the way!