3 ms·

I just wish this brings more research into Thorium based reactors, as they seem to be the future of sustainable nuclear power. Maybe a SMR powered by Thorium in

I just wish this brings more research into Thorium based reactors, as they seem to be the future of sustainable nuclear power. Maybe a SMR powered by Thorium in the future? Who knows.

tim333 2y ago
Thorium based seems to be a conventional nuclear reactor with added complications. Getting conventional made is hard enough. There's a good article on the technical problems here https://thebulletin.org/2022/06/molten-salt-reactors-were-trouble-in-the-1960s-and-they-remain-trouble-today/ https://thebulletin.org/2022/06/molten-salt-reactors-were-tr... One quote from that: >During its operational lifetime, the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment was shut down 225 times. Of these 225 interruptions, only 58 were planned. The remaining interruptions were due to various technical problems, including: “chronic plugging” of the pipes... >...These problems remain relevant. Even today, no material can perform satisfactorily in the high-radiation, high-temperature, and corrosive environment inside a molten salt reactor. I'm not sure anyone has made one that powered anything or produced electricity. The MSRE just intermittently heated the air when it was working. Apparently although it only ran from 1965 to 1969 and produced a peak of 8MW, it's still costing about $10m per year to manage the waste produced. In the 1990s they found uranium in the waste had migrated leading to the possibility of an accidental criticality. Still the Chinese supposed to be running an experimental one similar to the MSRE in the Gobi desert next year. I'm not holding my breath for commercial operation though.
preisschild 2y ago
Doesn't even neccessarily need to be Thorium-232, we also have a lot uf Uranium-238 that isn't really used efficiently. Thermal/Fast Breeders are needed to use those fuel sources. Only Russia commercialiced them, because western nations stopped funding r&d (EBR2 in the US and Superphênix in France)

I just wish this brings more research into Thorium based reactors, as they seem to be the future of sustainable nuclear power. Maybe a SMR powered by Thorium in the future? Who knows.

tim333 2y ago

Thorium based seems to be a conventional nuclear reactor with added complications. Getting conventional made is hard enough. There's a good article on the technical problems here https://thebulletin.org/2022/06/molten-salt-reactors-were-trouble-in-the-1960s-and-they-remain-trouble-today/ https://thebulletin.org/2022/06/molten-salt-reactors-were-tr... One quote from that: >During its operational lifetime, the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment was shut down 225 times. Of these 225 interruptions, only 58 were planned. The remaining interruptions were due to various technical problems, including: “chronic plugging” of the pipes... >...These problems remain relevant. Even today, no material can perform satisfactorily in the high-radiation, high-temperature, and corrosive environment inside a molten salt reactor. I'm not sure anyone has made one that powered anything or produced electricity. The MSRE just intermittently heated the air when it was working. Apparently although it only ran from 1965 to 1969 and produced a peak of 8MW, it's still costing about $10m per year to manage the waste produced. In the 1990s they found uranium in the waste had migrated leading to the possibility of an accidental criticality. Still the Chinese supposed to be running an experimental one similar to the MSRE in the Gobi desert next year. I'm not holding my breath for commercial operation though.

preisschild 2y ago

Doesn't even neccessarily need to be Thorium-232, we also have a lot uf Uranium-238 that isn't really used efficiently. Thermal/Fast Breeders are needed to use those fuel sources. Only Russia commercialiced them, because western nations stopped funding r&d (EBR2 in the US and Superphênix in France)