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Molten Salt Reactors enjoy 15 minutes of fame 11 June 2014   Print Email   A next-generation fast breeder reactor design is gaining popularity in research circles.On 6 June, UK researchers Jasper Tomlinson and Trevor Griffiths won £75,000 in Technology Strategy Board funding (including £20,000 of contributions-in-kind) to carry out an eight-month feasibility study.The project, which will be managed by mechanical engineer Rory O'Sullivan, aims to develop a ranking of alternatives and configurations of a liquid-fuelled molten-salt reactor, including costs, regulatory, public acceptance and site issues for building and licensing a pilot-scale demonstration reactor in the UK. It would...

The big worry about nuclear reactors is that the solid fuel rods are going to melt down. If the core of the reactor loses its cooling water – as it did both at Three Mile Island and Fukushima – then the fuel rods overheat. Even though the nuclear reaction may stop, the decay heat is enough to melt the zirconium fuel rods so that the uranium pellets inside get exposed. If there is some water remaining, the heat may be enough to split off hydrogen, which can cause a hydrogen explosion, as occurred at Fukushima and was feared at Three...

<p>Bill Gates reckons he has already dropped a cool $1 billion on investments in renewable energy technologies. Now he’s looking to double that.</p> <p>Gates, who according to Forbes will still have at least $78 billion left even after he’s placed his new bets, said in an interview with the Financial Times that investing in radical, ‘wild-eyed’ energy tech companies is the only way that the world is going to get the solution to climate change at an affordable economic cost.</p>

US Nuclear Corp. (OTCBB: UCLE) has announced that it has shipped over $493,000 in advanced tritium monitor equipment to a leading edge Molten Salt Reactor (MSR) under development in Shanghai, China through its Overhoff Technology division today. Robert I. Goldstein, President, CEO and Chairman, stated, "This order was one of our most complex tritium monitoring systems designed and built by our Overhoff team. It also represents the largest sized shipment to any of our MSR clients in China during the second quarter and allows us to grow our footprint in the country. We are pleased they chose our Overhoff equipment...

Molten Salt Reactors enjoy 15 minutes of fame 11 June 2014   Print Email   A next-generation fast breeder reactor design is gaining popularity in research circles.On 6 June, UK researchers Jasper Tomlinson and Trevor Griffiths won £75,000 in Technology Strategy Board funding (including £20,000 of contributions-in-kind) to carry out an eight-month feasibility study.The project, which will be managed by mechanical engineer Rory O'Sullivan, aims to develop a ranking of alternatives and configurations of a liquid-fuelled molten-salt reactor, including costs, regulatory, public acceptance and site issues for building and licensing a pilot-scale demonstration reactor in the UK. It would...

Today, the United States Department of Energy announced that its Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennessee is partnering with Canadian nuclear company Terrestrial Energy Inc. (TEI) to assist with TEI’s new Integral Molten Salt Reactor (IMSR). The engineering blueprint stage for this GenIV reactor should be reached in two years. The reactor should come online in less than ten.

Fox News is reporting that the leader of the Democrat-controlled Senate has dropped a proposed ban on modern semi-automatic rifles from the chamber's gun-control package – dealing a blow to supporters of the ban. Noting that the ban could still come up for a vote, the article stated that the sponsor of the measure, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-CA., revealed that Reid told her the proposed ban would not be in the initial package. Feinstein reportedly said she's "disappointed" with the decision, and is expected to nevertheless offer it as an amendment. From the article: ...The move by Reid to cut...