China has the world’s first operational thorium nuclear reactor
China has the world’s first operational thorium nuclear reactor
Team working on project reportedly achieves milestone by completing fuel reloading while experimental molten salt reactor was running.
Chinese scientists have achieved a milestone in clean energy technology by successfully adding fresh fuel to an operational thorium molten salt reactor, according to state media reports.
It marks the first long-term, stable operation of the technology, putting China at the forefront of a global race to harness thorium – considered a safer and more abundant alternative to uranium – for nuclear power.
The development was announced by the project’s chief scientist, Xu Hongjie, during a closed-door meeting at the Chinese Academy of Sciences on April 8, the official Guangming Daily reported on Friday.
The experimental reactor, located in the Gobi Desert in China’s west, uses molten salt as the fuel carrier and coolant, and thorium – a radioactive element abundant in the Earth’s crust – as the fuel source. The reactor is reportedly designed to sustainably generate 2 megawatts of thermal power.
Some experts see the technology as the next energy revolution and claim that just one thorium-rich mine in Inner Mongolia could – theoretically – meet China’s energy needs for tens of thousands of years, while producing minimal radioactive waste.
A much bigger thorium molten salt reactor is already being built in China and is slated to achieve criticality by 2030. That research reactor is designed to produce 10 megawatts of electricity.
China’s state-owned shipbuilding industry has also unveiled a design for thorium-powered container ships that could potentially achieve emission-free maritime transport.
Meanwhile, US efforts to revive the development of a molten salt reactor remain on paper, despite bipartisan congressional support and Department of Energy initiatives.
A much bigger thorium molten salt reactor is already being built in China and is slated to achieve criticality by 2030
I read that and thought "damn that's such a long time away" before realizing 2030 is in just 5 years now
5 years is a long time
-sincerely, a young man
This is HUGE!
Lmao, 10MW. That’s the equivalent of like 2,000 solar panels. How big is this reactor and how much space is required for operations?
I get so tired of these shit takes that obviously haven't put much thought into the topic based on the clear barely surface level perspective, but love to repeat the same talking points confidently.
- It's a research reactor, it will be relatively small because it's not intended to provide a production power source.
- It can operate 24 hours a day, independent of weather or most external variables.
- Its power is variable and can handle varying loads on demand.
Most renewables like solar and wind cannot handle the second and third points well, of at all. And options that can like hydro and geothermal power are very location dependent.
You need to stop thinking of nuclear as an alternative to renewables and instead as the replacement for the fossil fuel plants that provide base power generation 24/7/365 like coal, gas, and the peaker plants.
Renewables alone do not solve modern societal power needs, but we can replace fossil fuels immediately with better options, like nuclear. As it is uranium power plants are extremely misunderstood by the public from decades of disinformation from the fossil fuel AND renewable industries and a fundamental misunderstanding of radioactivity by the public. Thorium specifically goes around that by removing the uranium Boogeyman, and meltdown risk. Most molten salt reactor designs operate on a Fail-Safe design principle that doesn't require power to continuously cool the fuel to prevent meltdown like most current uranium reactors do, instead requiring power to prevent that failsafe, often via an ice plug actively keeping the fuel in the system for operation.
I'd love to know the cost of thorium reactors vs some experimental grid level battery technology with solar or wind. Like liquid metal batteries made out of dirt cheap materials, or liquid flow batteries. I'm pro nuclear, but it's weird that there hasn't been much progress in scalable cheap grid storage.
It’s a research reactor, it will be relatively small because it’s not intended to provide a production power source.
I get that and a research reactor is a fine thing, but I'd like to have gotten some info about the scaling potential. Like are there obstacles to large scale utility power being generated with thorium?
I don't get the joke. They are building research reactors not reactors designed to handle high demand. Start small, scale up then start building full scale reactors. Isn't that kinda normal with new tech? They are starting the scaling up phase...
Well, it is a research reactor. What does the West have to show for itself? What does America have to show for itself? So we're laughing even though we're being left behind? Are we already so extremely stupid... No wonder America is becoming an idiocracy and Europe is following suit.
nuclear reactor is steady state power tho
Don’t you think if they produced enough energy to be profitable they’d be everywhere? Think about it, corporations would be all over this like flies on shit.
It's a logical next step. While these are interesting results, this technology is still a long way from commercial viability. After the 10 MW installation is operational, they'll have to run it for a few years before they can even start designing a grid scale plant. Or maybe they'll even have to scale up by another order of magnitude first, which would give only 100MW. Then they have to build it, test it, iron out the kinks etc. Once they have a grid scale plant, they can start commercialising the technology, provided it actually proves viable at scale. We're looking at 20 to 30 years even at the most optimistic estimate. I'd say 40 is more realistic.
Sounds a lot like fusion reactors to me, it’s always just 20 years away.