Episode 20 – Got a LFTR? What’s Under the Hood – Unintended Consequences – Chapter 8 Part 4

Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor by fmilluminati

How a LFTR works

In one type of LFTR, a liquid Thorium salt mixture circulates through the reactor core, releasing neutrons that convert Thorium 232 in an outer, shell-like “jacket” to Thorium 233. Thorium 232 cannot sustain a chain reaction, but it is fertile, meaning that it can be converted to fissile U-233 through neutron capture, also known as “breeding.”

When a Uranium 233 atom absorbs a neutron, it fissions (splits), releasing huge amounts of energy and more neutrons that activate more Thorium 232. In summary, a LFTR turns Thorium-232 into U-233, which thoroughly fissions while producing only 10% as much “waste” as LWRs produce.

“Thorium energy can help check CO2 and global warming, cut deadly air pollution, provide inexhaustible energy, and increase human prosperity. Our world is beset by global warming, pollution, resource conflicts, and energy poverty. Millions die from coal plant emissions. We war over mideast oil. Food supplies from sea and land are threatened. Developing nations’ growth exacerbates the crises. Few nations will adopt carbon taxes or energy policies against their economic self-interests to reduce global CO2 emissions. Energy cheaper than coal will dissuade all nations from burning coal. Innovative Thorium energy uses economic persuasion to end the pollution, to provide energy and prosperity to developing nations, and to create energy security for all people for all time.”
Dr. Robert Hargraves

Dr. Robert Hargraves has written articles and made presentations about the liquid fluoride Thorium reactor and energy cheaper than from coal – the only realistic way to dissuade nations from burning fossil fuels. His presentation “Aim High” about the technology and social benefits of the liquid fluoride Thorium reactor has been presented to audiences at Dartmouth ILEAD, Thayer School of Engineering, Brown University, Columbia Earth Institute, Williams College, Royal Institution, the Thorium Energy Alliance, the International Thorium Energy Association, Google, the American Nuclear Society, the President’s Blue Ribbon Commission of America’s Nuclear Future, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. With coauthor Ralph Moir he has written articles for the American Physical Society Forum on Physics and Society: Liquid Fuel Nuclear Reactors (Jan 2011) and American Scientist: Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors (July 2010). Robert Hargraves is a study leader for energy policy at Dartmouth ILEAD. He was chief information officer at Boston Scientific Corporation and previously a senior consultant with Arthur D. Little. He founded a computer software firm, DTSS Incorporated while at Dartmouth College where he was assistant professor of mathematics and associate director of the computation center. He graduated from Brown University (PhD Physics 1967) and Dartmouth College (AB Mathematics and Physics 1961).

Dr. Robert Hargraves – Aim High! @ TEAC3

Increase your Knowledge – Read Robert’s book

“This book presents a lucid explanation of the workings of Thorium-based reactors. It is must reading for anyone interested in our energy future.”
Leon Cooper, Brown University physicist and 1972 Nobel laureate for superconductivity

“As our energy future is essential I can strongly recommend the book for everybody interested in this most significant topic.”
Dr. George Olah, 1994 Nobel laureate for carbon chemistry

Amazon 5 Star comments on “Thorium – energy cheaper than coal” by Dr. Robert Hargraves

Why Thorium must be the Future of Energy, Robert Orr Jr.
Fascinating read with lots of calcs you can perform yourself, DGD
Thorium, what we should have done, B. Kirkpatrick
Fantastic book about this little known alternative nuclear energy source, ChicagoRichie
Should be in the hands of every science class and on top of every policy maker’s desk, R. Kame
A MUST HAVE resource on energy generation alternatives, George Whitehead
Get Free Energy, Abolish CO2, End Energy Dependency, Clean – Up the Planet and Make a Fortune. Kindle Customer
Essential education, Ames Gilbert
A solution for global climate change, Lawrence Baldwin
Wonderful book, written in text book style, Dot Dock
The place to go for Thorium info. Gerald M. Sutliff
Global warming killer, Red Avenger
Thorium reactors can be civilizations future for energy, Hill Country Bob
Thorium fuel in a breeder reactor implies limitless future energy, Fred W. Hallberg
On the ESSENTIAL BOOK LIST, James38

The half-life of Thorium 232, which constitutes most of the earth’s Thorium, is 14 billion years, so it is not hazardous due to its extremely slow decay. – Dr. George Erickson

Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors, American Scientist, 2010

“Given the diminished scale of LFTRs, it seems reasonable to project that reactors of 100 megawatts can be factory produced for a cost of around $200 million.”
Dr. Robert Hargraves – American Scientist, July 2010

Coming up next week, Episode 21 – No Big Noises Here. How a LFTR is Proliferation Proof.

Links and References

#UnintendedConsequences #GeorgeErickson #ClimateChange #FissionEnergy #NuclearEnergy #SpentNuclearFuel #MoltenSaltReactor #LFTR #RobertHargraves #TheThoriumNetwork #Thorium #Fission4All #RadiationIsGood4U #GetYourRadiation2Day #InvisibleFire

19th May 202218th Jun 2022

Episode 19 – Want a Lift? Grab a LFTR – Unintended Consequences – Chapter 8 Part 3

What’s a LFTR?

A thorium–fuelled MSR [Molten Salt Reactor] is a Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor – a LFTR
Pronounced ‘LIFTER‘

**A Lifetime of power in the palm of your hand [with Thorium]**

With a half-life of 14 billion years, Thorium-232 is one of the safest, least radioactive elements in the world. Thorium-232 emits harmless alpha particles that cannot even penetrate skin, but when it becomes Th-233 in a Molten Salt Reactor, it becomes a potent source of power. Sunlight, living at high altitude and the emissions from your granite counter-top or a coal-burning plant are more hazardous than thorium-232.

LFTRs are even more fuel-efficient than uranium- fuelled MSRs, and they create little waste because a LFTR consumes close to 99% of the thorium-232. LWRs reactors consume just 3% of their uranium before the rods need to be changed. That’s like burning just a tiny part of a log while polluting the rest with chemicals you must store for years.

Just one pound of thorium can generate as much electricity as 1700 tons coal, so replacing coal-burning plants with LFTRs would eliminate one of the largest causes of climate change. That same pound (just a golf ball-size lump), can yield all the energy an individual will ever need, and just one cubic yard of thorium can power a small city for at least a year. In fact, if we were to replace ALL of our carbon-fuelled, electrical power production with LFTRs, we would eliminate 30 to 35% of all man-made greenhouse gas production.

From 1977 to 1982, the Light Water Reactor at Shippingport, Pennsylvania was powered with thorium, and when it was eventually shuttered, the reactor core was found to contain about 1% more fissile material (U233/235) than when it was loaded. (Thorium has also fuelled the Indian Point 1 facility and a German reactor.)

India, which has an abundance of thorium, is planning to build Thorium-powered reactors, as is China while we struggle to overcome our unwarranted fear of nuclear power. And in April, 2015, a European commission announced a project with 11 partners from science and industry to prove the innovative safety concepts of the Thorium-fuelled MSR and deliver a breakthrough in waste management.

Please read Thorium: the last great opportunity of the industrial age – by David Archibald

Thorium: the last great opportunity of the industrial age, by David Archibald

Fossil fuel has a tail starting very soon

Massive 250 MW machine building opportunity coming up

To Slow Global Warming, We Need Nuclear Power by By Lamar Alexander and Sheldon Whitehouse

China Ramps Up New Nuclear Reactor Construction

China Nuclear Build Map – World Nuclear Association

Supplies

Thorium is four times as plentiful as uranium ore, which contains only 1% U-235. Besides being almost entirely usable, it is 400 times more abundant than uranium’s fissile U-235. Even at current use rates, uranium fuels can last for centuries, but thorium could power our world for thousands of years.

Just 1 ton of thorium is equivalent to 460 billion cubic meters of natural gas. We already have about 400,000 tons of thorium ore in “storage”, and we don’t need to mine thorium because our Rare-Earth Elements plant receives enough thorium to power the U. S. every year. Australia and India tie for the largest at about 500,000 tons, and China is well supplied.

A 1 GW LWR requires about 1.2 tons of uranium each year, but a 1 GW LFTR only needs a one-time “kick start” of 500 pounds of U-235 plus 1 ton of thorium each year.

Waste and Storage

Due to their high efficiency, LFTRs create only 1% of the waste that conventional reactors produce, and because only a small part of that waste needs storing for 400 years – not the thousands of years that LWR waste requires – repositories much smaller than Yucca mountain would easily suffice.

Furthermore, LFTRs can run almost forever because they produce enough neutrons to make their own fuel, and the toxicity from LFTR waste is 1/1000 that of LWR waste. So, the best way to eliminate most nuclear waste is to stop creating it with LWRs and replace them with reactors like MSRs or LFTRs that can utilize stored “waste” as fuel.

With no need for huge containment buildings, MSRs can be smaller in size and power than current reactors, so ships, factories, and cities could have their own power source, thus creating a more reliable, efficient power grid by cutting long transmission line losses that can run from 8 to 15%. Unfortunately, few elected officials will challenge the carbon industries that provide millions of jobs and wield great political power. As a consequence, thorium projects have received little to no help from our government, even though China and Canada are moving toward thorium, and India already has a reactor that runs on 20% thorium oxide.

GE Hitachi, ARC to license joint reactor in Canada; Siemens installs first live 3D-printed part

3D Printed Nuclear Reactor Core Microreactor ORNL, 25 May 2020

India on the road map of tripling nuclear power capacity

After our DOE signed an agreement with China, we gave them our MSR data. To supply its needs while MSRs are being built, China is relying on 27 conventional nuclear reactors plus 29 Generation III+ (solid fuel) nuclear plants that are under construction. China also intends to build an additional fifty-seven nuclear power plants, which is estimated to add at least 150 GigaWatts (GW) by 2030.

Nuclear Scientists Head to China to Test Experimental Reactors, by Stephen Stapczynski

China to start building 6-8 new nuclear reactors in 2018

“Global increase in nuclear power capacity in 2015 hit 10.2 gigawatts, the highest growth in 25 years driven by construction of new nuclear plants mainly in China…. We have never seen such an increase in nuclear capacity addition, mainly driven by China, South Korea and Russia,.. It shows that with the right policies, nuclear capacity can increase.”
Dr Fatih Birol, Executive Director, International Energy Agency, Paris Conference, Reuters, 28 June 2016

Russia Building the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant in Turkey

“When the China National Nuclear Power Manufacturing Corporation sought investors in 2015, they expected to raise a modest number of millions but they raised more than $280 billion.”
Dr. Alex Cannara

MIT: China Is Beating America In Nuclear Energy

In 2016, the Chinese Academy of Sciences allocated $1 billion to begin building LFTRs by 2020. As for Japan, which began to restart its reactors in 2015, a FUJI design for a 100 to 200 MW LFTR is being developed by a consortium from Japan, the U. S. and Russia at an estimated energy cost of just three cents/kWh. Furthermore, it appears that five years for construction and about $3 billion per reactor will be routine in China.

Fail-Safe Nuclear Power, By Richard Martin

China spending US$3.3 billion on molten salt nuclear reactors for faster aircraft carriers and in flying drones, December 6, 2017 by Brian Wang

Chinese Gobi Desert Molten Salt Industrial Facility

Westinghouse’s eVinci would look a lot like a LFTR in operation. See more next week on how a LFTR works.

Westinghouse Electric’s parent company wants to put the nuclear company on the market by Anya Litvak

eVinci by Westinghouse

Coming up next week, Episode 20 – Got a LFTR? Lets Look Under the Hood

Links and References

1. Next Episode – Episode 20 – Got a LFTR? Lets Look Under the Hood
2. Previous Episode – Episode 18 – Pass the Salt Dear – How Fission Gets Rock Solid Stability
3. Launching the Unintended Consequences Series
4. Dr. George Erickson on LinkedIn
5. Dr. George Erickson’s Website, Tundracub.com
6. The full pdf version of Unintended Consequences
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shippingport_Atomic_Power_Station
8. https://wattsupwiththat.com/2015/05/16/thorium-the-last-great-opportunity-of-the-industrial-age/
9. https://www.amazon.com/David-Archibald/e/B00I32BANS/
10. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/21/opinion/to-slow-global-warming-we-need-nuclear-power.html?
11. https://www.linkedin.com/in/lamar-alexander-68290688/
12. https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-whitehouse/
13. https://neutronbytes.com/2020/07/11/china-ramps-up-new-nuclear-reactor-construction/
14. https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/country-profiles/countries-a-f/china-nuclear-power.aspx
15. https://www.reutersevents.com/nuclear/ge-hitachi-arc-license-joint-reactor-canada-siemens-installs-first-live-3d-printed-part?
16. https://www.ornl.gov/news/3d-printed-nuclear-reactor-promises-faster-more-economical-path-nuclear-energy
17. https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/india-on-the-roadmap-of-tripling-nuclear-power-capacity/article64295841.ece
18. https://www.thestatesman.com/india/indian-nuclear-reactor-at-kaiga-sets-world-record-for-continuous-operation-1502700962.html
19. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-21/nuclear-scientists-head-to-china-to-test-experimental-reactors
20. https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-stapczynski-61187919/
21. https://thedebrief.org/chinese-fusion-reactor-sets-new-record-of-1056-seconds/
22. https://neutronbytes.com/2018/04/02/china-to-start-6-8-new-nuclear-reactors-in-2018/
23. https://www.iea.org/contributors/dr-fatih-birol
24. https://www.linkedin.com/in/fatih-birol/
25. https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-cannara-6a1b7a3/
26. https://dailycaller.com/2016/08/02/mit-china-is-beating-america-in-nuclear-energy/
27. http://climatecolab.org/web/guest/plans/-/plans/contestId/4/planId/15102
28. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuji_MSR
29. https://www.technologyreview.com/2016/08/02/158134/fail-safe-nuclear-power/
30. https://linkedin.com/in/richard-martin-80344410/
31. https://www.patreon.com/posts/39262802
32. https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2017/12/china-spending-us3-3-billion-on-molten-salt-nuclear-reactors-for-faster-aircraft-carriers-and-in-flying-drones.html
33. https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-wang-93645/
34. https://www.post-gazette.com/business/powersource/2022/05/10/westinghouse-for-sale-brookfield-energy-nuclear-sale-russia-ukraine-europe-evinci-microreactor-temelin-climate/stories/202205100052
35. https://www.linkedin.com/in/anya-litvak-a060096/
36. https://www.westinghousenuclear.com/new-plants/evinci-micro-reactor
37. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us1WGZtzVCw

#UnintendedConsequences #GeorgeErickson #ClimateChange #FissionEnergy #NuclearEnergy #SpentNuclearFuel #MoltenSaltReactor #LFTR #TheThoriumNetwork #Thorium #Fission4All #RadiationIsGood4U #GetYourRadiation2Day

17th May 202217th May 2022

Interview #3, Dr. Reşat Uzmen, Nuclear Technology Director of FİGES. Part of the Thorium Student Guild Interview Series, “Leading to Nuclear”

Integrated Industrial Zone Powered by Molten Salt courtesy of Figes of Turkey

Since the 1960’s Turkey were trying to get involved with nuclear energy. Turkey was one of the countries that participated in the International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy, held in Geneva in 1955 September. There is no doubt that Turkey wants to use nuclear energy for energy production. In Turkey, there are many experts that have knowledge about nuclear fission technology. Dr. Reşat Uzmen is one of the most important people who is experienced in the nuclear fuel area. During the interview, his ideas and visions enlighten us about the future of Molten Salt Fission Technology. Here is another instructive interview for building a MSR!

The Atoms for Peace symbol was placed over the door to the American swimming pool reactor building during the 1955 International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy in Geneva, often called the Atoms for Peace conference.

Rana
President of the Student Guild
The Thorium Network

Leading to Nuclear Interview Series, Interview #3, Dr Resat Uzmen of Figes Turkey

Mr. Reşat, can you tell us a little about yourself?

I graduated from İstanbul Technical University (İTU) in the chemical engineering department. I did my master’s degree in İTU also. As soon as I finished the department I became a researcher in The Çekmece Nuclear Research and Training Center, known as ÇNAEM. My research was about how uranium could be treated to obtain an uranium concentrate. I did my doctor’s degree in that topic. Back then, it was so hard to get information because it is a delicate technology. That’s why we did the research by ourselves. Think about that: there was no internet! There was a library in ÇNAEM, it still remains there. All the reports that were collected from all over the world were kept here. We benefit from those reports that were about uranium and thorium. In addition, getting chemicals was difficult. The ores that we were working on were coming from Manisa so mine was tough to process. Despite all these obstacles Turkey needed uranium so we have done what has to be done. I am the founder of “the nuclear fuel technology department in ÇNAEM”. This department was focused on producing uranium fuel that could be ready for fuelling and we did it. We produced uranium pellets by ourselves in our laboratories. We did research about ore sorting of thorium and how it can be used in nuclear reactors. Now I am working as a nuclear technology director at FİGES.

Dr. Reşat Uzmen, Thorium NTE Field in Burdur Turkey

“Turkey is capable of designing its own reactor now!”
Dr. Reşat Uzmen

What are your thoughts on Turkey’s nuclear energy adventure? Although nuclear engineering education has been given at Hacettepe University since 1982, Turkey has never been able to gain an advantage in nuclear energy. What could be the main reasons for this?

Nuclear energy needs government support and government incentive. Government policy must include nuclear energy. In Turkey, nuclear energy was too personal. A government is formed then a team becomes the charge of the Turkey Atomic Energy Agency and this team is working hard, trying to encourage people about nuclear energy but then the new government is formed and the team is changed. Unfortunately, this is how it is done in Turkey. Also, you need money to build reactors. There were some countries that try to build a nuclear reactor in Turkey. Once CANDUs was very popular in Turkey. Canadians supported us a lot. Argentineans came with CAREM design and wanted to develop the design with Turkey also they wanted to build CAREM in Turkey, it was a great offer but the politicians at that time were not open up to this idea. Nuclear energy must be government policy and it should not be changed by different governments.

As you know, there is a PWR-type reactor under construction in cooperation with Rosatom and Akkuyu in our country. Do you think Turkey’s first reactor selection was the right choice?

This cooperation is not providing us any nuclear technology. When The Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant is finished we will have a nuclear reactor that is operating in Turkey but we can not get any nuclear technology transformation. Right now Turkey can not construct the sensitive components of a nuclear reactor. Akkuyu is like a system that produces energy for Turkey. It would be the same thing if Russia build that plant in a place that is near Turkey. In addition, there is the fate of spent fuels. Russia takes away all the spent fuels, these spent fuels can be removed from Turkey in two ways: by water, starting from the Akkuyu harbor, the ship will pass through the Turkish straits, then pass to the Black Sea and pass through the Novorossiysk harbor to reach Siberia and by land, from Akkuyu it will arrive in Samsun or Trabzon then by water the ship will arrive in Siberia. I suppose spent fuels are going to be transported by water.

What are your thoughts on molten salt reactors?

Molten Salt Reactor is a Gen. 4 reactor and has a lot of advantages. First of all, the fuel of the MSR is molten salt so it is a liquid fuel. Since I am interested in the fuel production part of nuclear energy I am aware of the challenges of solid fuel production. Having liquid fuel is a big virtue. Liquid fuel can be ThF₄-UF₄. The fuel production step can proceed as: UF₄ may be imported as enriched uranium. If you have the technology then UF₆ may be imported as enriched uranium then UF₆ can be converted to UF₄. After that step fabrication of the liquid fuel is easier than solid fuel. Second, MSR has a lot of developments in the safety systems of a nuclear reactor. There is no fuel melting danger because it is already melted. The liquid fuel is approximately 700 °C. The important point is molten salt may freeze. If fuel temperature is below approximately 550°C the fuel becomes solid we don’t want that to happen. Also, the fuel has a negative temperature coefficient which means that as the temperature of the fuel rises reactivity of the fuel is going to decrease. There is a freeze plug at the bottom of the core. If the core overheats the freeze plug will melt and the contents of the core will be dropped into a containment tank fed by gravity. This is a precaution against the loss of coolant accident. One of the other advantages is reprocessing opportunity. It is possible with helium to remove volatile fission products from the reactor core. Tritium can be a problem but if the amount of tritium is below the critical level then it wouldn’t be a problem.

” Molten Salt Reactors are advantageous in many ways. The fuel is already melted, freeze plug is going to melt in case of an overheating issue, reproccessing is easier than the solid fuel. ”

FİGES took on the task of designing MSR’s heat exchangers in the SAMOFAR project and your designs were approved. Can you talk a bit about heat exchangers? What are the differences with a PWR exchanger? Why did it need to be redesigned?

There are a lot of differences between a PWR heat exchanger and an MSR heat exchanger. The basic difference is, that in a PWR heat exchanger steam is produced from water. MSR heat exchanger is working with molten salt to produce steam. FİGES finished calculations like the flow rate of the molten salt, the temperature of the molten salt, etc. for a heat exchanger of SAMOFAR. The heat exchanger is made of a material that is the same as the reactor core. In SAMOFAR, Hastelloy is used but boron carbide sheeting may be used for the heat exchanger.

Can you talk a little bit about your collaboration with Thorium Network?

The Founder of the Thorium Network Jeremiah has contacted FİGES about 5 months ago. We met him in one of the FİGES offices which are located in İstanbul. We have discussed what we have done in Turkey thus far. We signed an agreement about sharing networks. We share the thorium and molten salt reactor-based projects with them and they do the same.

If the idea of building an MSR in Turkey is accepted, where will FİGES take part in this project?

As FİGES, building an MSR in Turkey has two steps. The first step is about design. To design a reactor you need software. The existing codes are for solid fuel. First of all the codes that are going to be used for liquid fuel must be developed. There are companies that work to develop required software all around the world. We want to take part in the design step as FİGES. After the design is finished the second step comes. The second step is building the reactor. FİGES doesn’t have the base to build a reactor but an agreement can be made with companies that can build a nuclear power plant.

Do you have any advice you can give to nuclear power engineer candidates who want to work on MSR? What can students do about it?

There are tons of documents about Molten Salt Reactor Technology. These documents are about the material of the reactor core, software codes, design, etc. A student can find everything about MSR on the internet. In addition to this, students should follow the Denmark-based company that is called “Seaborg“. They have a compact molten salt reactor design. Also, there is another MSR design called “ThorCon“. Students can follow the articles, presentations, and events about these two MSR designs. As I said, students must research and follow the literature about Molten Salt Fission Technology.

. . .

It was a great opportunity for me to meet Mr. Reşat who has been working to develop nuclear energy in Turkey. I would like to thank him for his time and great answers.

As students, we are going to change the world step by step with Molten Salt Fission Technology by our side. We are going to continue doing interviews with key people in nuclear energy and MSR!

The Student Guild of the Thorium Network

LINKS AND REFERENCES:

#ThoriumStudentGuild #LeadingToNuclear #Interview #ResatUzmen #Figes #Turkey

12th May 20225th Jun 2022

Episode 18 – Pass the Salt Dear – How Fission Gets Rock Solid Stability – Unintended Consequences – Chapter 8 Part 2

What’s an MSR? A Molten Salt Reactor of Course!

Molten Salt Reactors are superior in many ways to conventional reactors.

In a Molten Salt Reactor, the uranium (probably Thorium in the future), is dissolved in a liquid fluoride salt. (Although fluorine gas is corrosive, fluoride salts are not.) Fluoride salts also don’t break down under high temperatures or high radiation, and they lock up radioactive material, which prevents it from being released to the environment.

THORIUM – What is THORIUM?

As noted earlier, Dr. Alvin Weinberg’s Oak Ridge MSR ran successfully for 22,000 hours during the sixties. However, the program was shelved, partly for political reasons and partly because we [USA] favoured Admiral Rickover’s water-cooled reactors.

When uranium or thorium is combined with a liquid fluoride salt, there are no pellets, no zirconium tubes and no water, the source of the hydrogen that exploded at Chernobyl and Fukushima. The fluid that contains the uranium is also the heat-transfer agent, so no water is required for cooling. MSRs are also more efficient than LWR plants because the temperature of the molten salt is about 1300 F [700 C], whereas the temperature of the water in a conventional reactor is about 600 F [315 C], and higher heat creates more high-pressure steam to spin the turbines.

Thorium Debunk

This extra heat can also be used to generate more electricity, desalinate seawater, split water for hydrogen fuel cells, make ammonia for fertilizer and even extract CO₂ from the air and our oceans to make gasoline and diesel fuel. In addition, MSRs can be fueled with 96% of our stored uranium “waste” – spent fuel – and the fissile material in our thousands of nuclear bombs.

Thorium: Kirk Sorensen at TEDxYYC

Why Hydrogen Needs Nuclear Power To Succeed by By Alan Mammoser – Mar 07, 2021

Hydrogen: The best shot for nuclear sustainability? by Susan Gallier, Nuclear News Dec 4, 2021

Because some MSR designs do not need to be water-cooled, those versions don’t risk a steam explosion that could propel radioactive isotopes into the environment. And because MSRs operate at atmospheric pressure, no huge, concrete containment dome is needed.

When the temperature of the liquid salt fuel rises as the chain reaction increases, the fuel expands, which decreases its density and slows the rate of fission, which prevents a “runaway” reaction. As a consequence, an MSR is inherently self-governing, and because the fuel is liquid, it can easily drain by gravity into a large containment reservoir. As a consequence, the results of a fuel “spill” from an MSR would be measured in square yards, not miles.

In the event of a power outage, a refrigerated salt plug at the bottom of the reactor automatically melts, allowing the fuel to drain into a tank, where it spreads out solidifies, stopping the reaction. In effect, MSRs are walk-away- safe.

Even if you abandon an MSR, the fuel will automatically drain and solidify without any assistance.

If the Fukushima reactor had been an MSR, there would have been no meltdown, and because radioactive by-products like caesium, iodine and strontium bind tightly to stable salts, they would not have been released into the environment. (In 2018 Jordan agreed to purchase two, 110 MW, South Korean molten salt reactors,)

May 2021 – Danish firm plans floating SMR for export South Korea firm to build floating nuclear plants. NuScale and Canadian firm to build floating MSRs. Saskatchewan Indigenous company to explore small MSRs.
August 2021 – Wall Street Journal – Small Reactors, Big Future for Nuclear Power

January 2022 – Modular Molten Salt Reactors Starting 2028
Progress

USEFUL MSR BYPRODUCTS

Besides producing CO₂-free electricity, fissioning U-233 in an MSR creates essential industrial elements that include xenon, which is used in lasers, neodymium for super-strength magnets, rhodium, strontium, medical molybdenum-99, zirconium, ruthenium, palladium, iodine-131 for the treatment of thyroid cancers and bismuth-213, which is used for targeted cancer treatments.

Why are we so afraid of nuclear? By James Conca, 7 July 2015

Press Here to Get your Daily Essential Dose

Fuel needed for a 1,000 MW Power Plant per day

7 pounds Uranium 235	No CO2
3.2 kg Uranium 235	No CO2
9,000 tons Coal	26,000 tons of CO2
240,000,000 cubic feet Natural gas	320,000 cu ft of CO2
4,838 tons Natural gas	16.6 tons of CO2

Coming up next week, Episode 19 – Want a Lift? Grab a LFTR

Links and References

1. Next Episode – Episode 19 – Want a Lift? Grab a LFTR
2. Previous Episode – Episode 17 – All At Sea – The Best Technology and Not Used. Why?
3. Launching the Unintended Consequences Series
4. Dr. George Erickson on LinkedIn
5. Dr. George Erickson’s Website, Tundracub.com
6. The full pdf version of Unintended Consequences
7. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUg0QdtO6bQ
8. https://periodictable.com/Elements/090/pictures.html
9. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6mhw-CNxaE
10. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2vzotsvvkw
11. https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Why-Hydrogen-Needs-Nuclear-Power-To-Succeed.html
12. https://www.linkedin.com/in/alan24/
13. https://www.ans.org/news/article-3472/hydrogen-the-best-shot-for-nuclear-sustainability/
14. https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-bailey-gallier/
15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NuScale_Power
16. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrestrial_Energy
17. https://www.wsj.com/articles/nuclear-power-generation-electricity-small-reactors-11629239179
18. https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2022/01/modular-molten-salt-reactors-starting-2028-in-canada.html
19. https://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/energy-environment/247017-why-are-we-so-afraid-of-nuclear/
20. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jim-conca-2a51037/
21. https://www.aqua-calc.com/calculate/volume-to-weight

#UnintendedConsequences #GeorgeErickson #ClimateChange #FissionEnergy #NuclearEnergy #SpentNuclearFuel #MoltenSaltReactor #TheThoriumNetwork #Thorium #Fission4All #RadiationIsGood4U #GetYourRadiation2Day

5th May 202218th Jun 2022

Episode 17 – All At Sea – The Best Technology and Not Used. Why? Unintended Consequences – Chapter 8 Part 1

Powering Ships and Desalination

Cargo ships emit more air pollution than all of the world’s cars, but we don’t power them with emission-free nuclear power because we are worried about nuclear proliferation. However, if we would equip these ships with new, proliferation–resistant reactors, we could save seven million barrels of oil per day, eliminate 4% of our greenhouse gas emissions and replace those huge fuel tanks with profitable cargo.

Hyundai Merchant Marine, Algecira Class, at River Elbe, World Largest Carrier. 400 m long x 61 m wide

Propelling one of our [USA] immense aircraft carriers at 27 mph for 24 hours requires only three pounds [1.36 kg] of nuclear fuel, which is equivalent to 400,000 gallons [1.8 million litres] of diesel fuel. (Burning 100 gallons [455 litres] of diesel fuel creates one ton of carbon dioxide.)

Thor’ – a Thorium Molten Salt Reactor ship design by Ulstein for Replenishment, Research and Rescue

California’s drought-stricken Central Valley, which was a dry savanna before “civilisation” arrived, is more than 10 trillion gallons [46 billion metres³] per year behind in precipitation. Fortunately, there is a remedy, but that remedy will require an abundance of carbon-free electricity created by safe, efficient nuclear power plants.

The non-nuclear Carlsbad desalination plant produces some 50 million gallons [230 million litres] of fresh water per day with 40 MW, which only supplies 7% of San Diego’s needs, but supplying all of the state would require 140 Carlsbads, which is why the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant has begun to produce fresh water.

Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant

There should be many more plants like Diablo, and there would be, but for the opposition of anti-nuclear zealots whose efforts helped accomplish the closure of California’s San Onofre nuclear power plant. As a result, San Onofre’s 2.4 billion watts of carbon-free electricity are being generated by plants that burn huge volumes of natural gas (methane), which raises CO₂ levels and worsens Climate Change.

What nuclear power plant?
*San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station 2013 photo D Ramey Logan*

Tree ring study shows California’s drought worst in 1,200 years

Kevin Anchukaitis collecting a tree ring sample from a blue oak in California. Image Credit: Dan Griffin

Just one $3 fuel pellet = 170 gallons of gasoline

Why do we persist with carbon fuels when six uranium oxide pellets the size of the tip of your little finger_, contain as much energy as 3 tons of coal or 60,000 cubic feet of natural gas? Just a fistful of uranium can run all of New York City for an hour, and the spent fuel “waste” products are far less than that.

The 2.2-megawatt Excel Energy plant at Becker, MN – the state’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases – turns 60 million pounds of coal per day into CO₂, but less than 100 pounds of uranium would produce the same amount of electricity without creating any CO₂.

How does a water-cooled, uranium-fuelled Light Water Reactor (LWR) work?

What are its pluses and minuses?

Some claim that uranium mining is especially dangerous because the ore is radioactive, but they are wrong. The radiation level just one foot from a drum of uranium [yellow cake] is only 20% of the cosmic radiation level that passengers experience on a jet flight – and the ore from which the oxide was derived is even less hazardous.

In a LWR, uranium pellets containing about 4-5% U-235 are sealed in about 25,000 12-foot zirconium tubes. Within those tubes, the U-235 emits neutrons that sustain a chain reaction that releases huge amounts of heat that raises the water temperature to 600 degrees F [320 C], so it must be “kept” at 2,700 psi [20 MPa] to prevent it from boiling. The super-heated water is circulated through a heat-exchanger to make steam in a separate plumbing loop. That steam powers a turbine, which spins a generator. And because the super-heated water would explosively expand 1,000 times if there were a leak, a huge, immensely strong containment dome encloses the reactor so that steam or other gases can’t escape. Once started, a LWR can run for three years with only periodic breaks for refuelling.

What about the “waste”?

Nuclear Fuel Recycling Could Offer Plentiful Energy

Nuclear power plants are required to contain 100% of their spent fuel (“waste”), but if you were to get all the electricity for your lifetime from conventional reactors, your share would weigh just two pounds [one kilogram], and only a small part of that would be hazardous long term.

During fission, reaction products accumulate in the pellets, which become cracked, and must be replaced during a multi-day shut-down during which the rods are moved to pools filled with water, which absorbs neutrons, to keep the decaying fuel from overheating.

After underwater storage for up to 8 years, radioactivity has decreased to the point that the rods can be stored in self-ventilating, concrete cylinders. And after 10 more years, 90% of the highly radioactive elements are no longer hazardous.

Spent Fuel Storage Pond at a Nuclear Power Station

On-site storage is a sensible solution because 96% of this spent fuel can fuel modern, “fast” and other reactors to make more electricity. In 2018, the US generated 4.2 billion megawatt hours of electricity from all sources, but we have enough spent fuel to generate 4 billion megawatt years of CO₂-free electricity! Why are we waiting?

“Human societies are addicted to their way of life, and they are fanatical in their defence. Hence, they are reluctant to reform. To admit error is rare among individuals and unknown among states. Instead of changing their minds, leaders redouble their efforts to do what no longer works, wooden-headedly persisting in error until the bitter end.” [Wind and solar – not nuclear]
William Ophuls

These pellets also contain isotopes needed for nuclear medicine. (Plutonium 239, which the anti-nukes fuss about, has a half-life of 24,000 years. When held in a gloved hand, one only feels slight warmth due to its extremely slow decay, and as spent fuel decays, it becomes safer – unlike the toxic ash and the particulates made by burning carbon, which remain toxic forever.

However, Caesium, Iodine and Strontium isotopes are dangerous because they mimic food elements that our bodies need. Iodine decays rapidly, but Strontium and Caesium decay by half in about 30 years, so we should store them safely for 120 years, at which time their activity has dropped by 94%.

Note the absence of shielding, even though Mr. Agnew [b. 1921, d. 2013, age 92] is carrying the plutonium that destroyed Nagasaki at the end of World War II.

Good video on spent fuel from Columbia plant, featuring Dr. James Conca.

Nuclear Waste | Dr. James Conca

Dry Storage of Spent [Used] Fuel Casks. No worker protection is needed

Used Fuel Dry Storage 1 Prairie Island Nuclear Plant Minnesota
Used Fuel Dry Storage 2 Prairie Island Nuclear Plant in Minnesota
Used Fuel Dry Storage Canada
Used Fuel Dry Storage James A. Fitzpatrick Nuclear Power Plant Scriba New York
Used Fuel Dry Storage
Used Fuel Dry Storage Central Missouri

Heavily nuclear France has a recycling program that greatly reduces its volume and the length of time it must be stored. As a consequence, all of France’s multi-decade spent fuel could be stored on one basketball court.

In comparison, all of the “waste” generated in the U.S. since the fifties could be stored on one football field in self-ventilating, concrete containers. After just 40 years of storage, only about one thousandth as much radioactivity remains as when the reactor was turned off for fuel replacement. (Only a small portion needs long term storage or recycling.)

Australian Nuclear Responsibilities – Ben Heard

However, because recycling can retrieve plutonium isotopes from the waste, some of which can be used for making weapons, President Carter closed our [USA] only recycling plant during the Cold War in an attempt to placate Russian fears that we’d use the plutonium for making nuclear bombs.

Scientists turn nuclear waste into diamond batteries (that will last 1,000’s of years) by Philip Perry

WHO’S AFRAID OF NUCLEAR WASTE?

Unfortunately, there was, and is, another reason: The anti-nuclear crowd has promoted radiophobia so effectively that many voters and legislators refuse to even consider building the new, super-safe, highly efficient reactors that can use 95% of our stored “waste”, including the plutonium, as fuel. (During the last 70 years, just 56,000 tons of nuclear “waste” was generated in the U S, but the city of New York creates that much in just 6 days.

Trash Recycling Management in New York – Low Cost Fission Would Recycle All of It

General Electric and Southern Company Team Up to Power the Planet With Nuclear Waste

[Types of Radioactive Waste by Cameco

Radioactive waste is generally divided into three categories depending on its level of radioactivity: low, intermediate and high-level waste.

Low-level waste includes slightly contaminated clothing and items that comes from places such as nuclear medicine wards in hospitals, research laboratories and nuclear plants. Low-level waste contains only small amounts of radioactivity that decays away in hours or days. After the radioactivity has decayed, low-level waste can be treated like ordinary garbage.
Intermediate-level wastes mostly come from the nuclear industry. They include used reactor components and contaminated materials from reactor decommissioning. Typically these wastes are embedded in concrete for disposal and buried.
High-level waste generally describes spent (or used) fuel from nuclear reactors. It is highly radioactive, will remain so for many years, and requires special handling.

According to the IAEA, low and intermediate level wastes comprise about 97% of the volume, but only 8% of the radioactivity of all radioactive waste. ]

Coming up next week, Episode 18 – Pass the Salt Dear – How Fission Gets Rock Solid Stability

Links and References

1. Next Episode – Episode 18 – Pass the Salt Dear – How Fission Gets Rock Solid Stability
2. Previous Episode – Episode 16 – Green is Clean Air and Clean Water for All
3. Launching the Unintended Consequences Series
4. Dr. George Erickson on LinkedIn
5. Dr. George Erickson’s Website, Tundracub.com
6. The full pdf version of Unintended Consequences
7. https://dailylogistic.com/world-largest-container-ships/
8. https://splash247.com/ulstein-debuts-thor-claiming-it-is-shippings-nuclear-powered-silver-bullet/
9. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBRVb0-0kAw
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diablo_Canyon_Power_Plant
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_%22Bud%22_Lewis_Carlsbad_Desalination_Plant
12. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Onofre_Nuclear_Generating_Station
13. https://earthsky.org/earth/tree-ring-study-shows-californias-drought-worst-in-1200-years/
14. http://climatewarmingcentral.com/nuclear_page.html
15. https://www.anl.gov/article/nuclear-fuel-recycling-could-offer-plentiful-energy
16. https://nuclearenergyinfo.blogspot.com/2010/10/what-is-spent-fuel.html
17. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Agnew
18. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JfJEK3R1k0
19. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jim-conca-2a51037/
20. https://www.kiteandkeymedia.com/videos/is-nuclear-energy-and-waste-safe-or-dangerous-and-how-to-manage-storage-disposal-radiation/
21. https://www.cameco.com/uranium_101/spent-fuel-management/spent-fuel/
22. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzbI0UPwQHg
23. https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-heard-743b6014/
24. https://bigthink.com/surprising-science/scientists-turn-nuclear-waste-in-diamond-batteries-thatll-last-for-thousands-of-years/
25. https://bigthink.com/people/philip-perry/
26. https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/general-electric-and-southern-company-team-up-to-power-the-planet-with-nuclear-waste
27. https://www.cameco.com/uranium_101/spent-fuel-management/spent-fuel/

#UnintendedConsequences #GeorgeErickson #ClimateChange #FissionEnergy #NuclearEnergy #SpentNuclearFuel #DiabloCanyon #TheThoriumNetwork #Thorium #Fission4All #RadiationIsGood4U #GetYourRadiation2Day

3rd May 20223rd Aug 2023

「パーフェクトテクノロジー」-バイリンガル記事-日本語/英語 – “The Perfect Technology” – a Bilingual Article – Japanese / English

この記事は、2022年3月14日にプロイセンの一般新聞Preußische Allgemeine Zeitungによって公開されました。著作権表示:教育目的でフェアユースを適用する。 / This article published 14 March 2022 by Preußische Allgemeine Zeitung, the Prussian General Newspaper. Copyright notice: applying fair use for educational purposes.

ドイツのための新聞 · オストプレウセンブラット · ポメラニアン新聞

Newspaper for Germany · The Ostpreußenblatt · Pomeranian Newspaper

トリウムベースの溶融塩原子炉・液体燃料No.1 の責任:上海応用物理学研究所

Responsible for the Thorium-based Molten Salt Reactor-Liquid Fuel No. 1: The Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics

中国の溶融塩ループ実験 / China’s molten salt loop experiment

トリウム溶融塩原子炉

核燃料が溶融塩の形である原子炉は、多くの恩恵をもたらします。近い将来、中国で試験施設が稼働する予定です。

THORIUM MOLTEN SALT REACTORS Nuclear reactors in which the nuclear fuel is in the form of molten salt offer a wealth of advantages. A test plant will go into operation in China in the near future.

「パーフェクトテクノロジー」

原料は安価で世界中で入手可能であり、冷却水さえも必要ではなく、廃棄物は少なくなり、従来の核廃棄物よりもはるかに速く崩壊する

“Perfect technology”

The raw material is cheap and available worldwide, not even cooling water is needed and the waste is less and decays much faster than conventional nuclear waste: Thorium technology stands for a new quality of the use of nuclear energy

Wolfgang Kaufmann 23.01.2022

中国中部甘粛省の武威近くにある紅沙港工業団地では、パイロットプラントが間もなく稼働し、中国だけでなく世界中のエネルギー生産に革命を起こす可能性があります。化石燃料の使用による二酸化炭素の排出、風力タービンの景観の劣化、環境に有害な生産による電池の大量使用、風や曇りのない天候での停電、リスクはありません。原子炉の事故による放射能の増加は、革新的なトリウムベースの溶融塩原子炉によって約束されています。上海応用物理研究所のトリウムベースの溶融塩原子炉No.1（TMSR-LF1）は、原子力エネルギーの使用における新しい品質を表しており、それに「グリーンコート」を与えることになっています。

In the Hongshagang Industrial Park near Wuwei in the central Chinese province of Gansu, a pilot plant will go into operation in the near future, which has the potential to revolutionize energy production not only in the Middle Kingdom, but throughout the world. No more carbon dioxide emissions as a result of the use of fossil fuels, no more landscape degradation by wind turbines, no mass use of batteries from environmentally harmful production, no power outages in calm winds and clouds, but also no radiation risk due to reactor accidents, all this promises the innovative Thorium-based Molten Salt Reactor-Liquid Fuel No. 1 (TMSR-LF1) of the Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, which advocates a new quality of use of the Nuclear energy is in place and this should give it a kind of “green coat of paint”.

溶融塩核分裂エネルギー回路図 / Molten Salt Fission Energy Schematic

Yoichiro Shimazu – FUJI Molten Salt Reactor [MSR] Passive Heat Removal System @ ThEC12

TMSR-LF1トリウム液体塩原子炉の機能は比較的簡単です。弱放射性元素のトリウムは液体の塩に溶解し、中性子を照射します。これにより、核分裂時に大量の熱を放出する同位体ウラン233が生成されます。したがって、原子炉は独自の燃料を生成します。最終的に、このプロセスは、従来の原子炉の運転よりもはるかに安全であり（以下を参照）、他にも多くの利点があります。

The operation of the Thorium Molten Salt reactor TMSR-LF1 is relatively simple. The weakly radioactive element Thorium is dissolved in molten salt and bombarded with neutrons. This produces the isotope uranium 233, the fission of which releases large amounts of heat. So the reactor produces its own fuel. This process ultimately brings much more safety than the operation of classic nuclear reactors (see below) and also a variety of other advantages.

6つの恩恵

Six Benefits

まず、必要なトリウム232はごく少量です。イタリアのノーベル物理学賞を受賞したカルロ・ルビアが計算したところ、1トンのトリウムのエネルギー含有量は200トンのウラン金属または2800万トンの石炭のエネルギー含有量に相当するためです。

First, only extremely small amounts of Thorium 232 are needed. The energy content of one ton of Thorium corresponds to that of 200 tons of uranium metal or 28 million tons of coal, as the Italian Nobel Laureate in Physics Carlo Rubbia calculated.

第二に、世界中に主要なトリウム鉱床があります。原則として、この元素は鉛と同様の頻度で岩石地殻に発生し、希土類の採掘における廃棄物としても発生します。それが高価ではない理由です。一方で、最近、従来の原子力発電所の数が再び大幅に増加しているため、ウランの不足や価格の高騰が見込まれます。

Secondly, there are larger Thorium deposits all over the world. In principle, the element occurs in the rock crust as often as lead and is also produced as a waste product in the extraction of rare earths. That’s why it’s not expensive. On the other hand, there is a risk of shortages and price explosions for uranium in the future, because the number of conventional nuclear power plants has recently increased significantly again.

第三に、トリウム溶融塩反応器は、例えば砂漠地域を含む事実上どこにでも建設することができる。冷却水を必要としないからです。

Thirdly, a Thorium Molten Salt reactor can be built virtually anywhere, including desert regions, for example. Because it does not require any cooling water.

第四に、そのオペレーション（原典はドイツ語であるので、この場合ビトリーブとなりうるか）はまた、大幅に少ない放射性廃棄物を生成します。また、TMSR-LF1からの核廃棄物の99%以上は、遅くとも300年後には無害な同位体に崩壊したと言われています。さらに、より高度な溶融塩反応器で後でより長い放射材料の少量の残留量を処理し、したがって完全に中和することができる。比較すると、ウランを動力源とする従来の原子炉は、使用される核燃料のほんの一部しか使用されていないにもかかわらず、数千年の半減期を持つ長寿命の放射性核分裂生成物を生成します。

Fourthly, its operation also generates significantly less radioactive waste. In addition, more than 99 percent of the nuclear waste from the TMSR-LF1 is said to have decayed into harmless isotopes after 300 years at the latest. Furthermore, it is possible to process the small residual amounts of longer radiating material later in more advanced molten salt reactors and thus completely neutralise. By way of comparison, conventional nuclear reactors powered by uranium produce long-lived radioactive fission products with half-lives of many thousands of years, even though only a small fraction of the nuclear fuel used is used.

第五に、トリウム溶融塩炉の建設と運転のコストは、通常使用される軽水炉のコストよりも低い。これは主に、システムの動作圧力が低いため、多くの安全上の注意が不要であること、および燃料棒を調達する必要がないという事実によるものです。

Fifthly, the costs for the construction and operation of Thorium Molten Salt reactors are lower than those of the light-water reactors that are usually used. This is mainly due to the low operating pressure of the systems, which makes numerous safety precautions superfluous, as well as the fact that no fuel rods have to be procured.

第六に、TMSR-LF1のような原子炉は、ウラン233がインキュベートされるだけでなく、核医学などで必要とされる他の多くの放射性核分裂生成物も生成されるため、非常に経済的に運転することができます。そして、放射性核種のいくつかは、ルビジウム、ジルコニウム、モリブデン、ルテニウム、パラジウム、ネオジム、サマリウムなどの非常に求められている元素にさえ変わります。同様に、希ガスキセノンが放出され、とりわけ絶縁媒体として、またレーザーおよび航空宇宙技術において使用される。

Sixthly, reactors such as the TMSR-LF1 can also be operated extremely economically because not only uranium 233 is incubated in them, but also many other radioactive fission products are produced, which are required, for example, in nuclear medicine. And some of the radionuclides even turn into highly sought-after elements such as rubidium, zirconium, molybdenum, ruthenium, palladium, neodymium and samarium. Likewise, the noble gas xenon is released, which is used, among other things, as an insulation medium as well as in laser and aerospace technology.

戦争は万物の父

War is the father of all things

TMSR-LF1の基礎となる技術は、中国ではなく米国で発明されました。早くも1954年には、空軍は長距離爆撃機に動力を供給するために小型の溶融塩原子炉を実験しました。しかし、このプロジェクトは、米国が大陸間弾道ミサイルを保有していたときに急速に終了しました。同様に、1970年代初頭、ユーリッヒ原子力研究施設の西ドイツの科学者は、溶融塩炉に関するいくつかの研究を発表しましたが、当時の原子炉開発責任者ルドルフ・シュルテンの消極的な態度のために最終的に注目されませんでした。

The technology underlying the TMSR-LF1 was not invented in China, but in the USA. As early as 1954, the Air Force experimented with a small molten salt reactor to power long-range bombers. However, the project came to a rapid end when the United States had intercontinental ballistic missiles. Likewise, at the beginning of the 1970s, West German scientists from the Jülich nuclear research facility presented some studies on molten salt reactors, which ultimately received no attention because of the negative attitude of the then head of reactor development, Rudolf Schulten [main developer of the pebble bed reactor design, a non fluid fuel system].

航空機原子炉実験の核 1954年 / Core of Aircraft Reactor Experiment 1954

伝熱炉実験-3 / Heat Transfer Reactor Experiment-3

代替原子炉の受け入れの欠如のもう一つの理由は、世界中の原子力産業の関心の絶対的な欠如でした。古典的な原子炉では、優れたお金を稼ぐことができ、燃料棒の生産からの収入なしには誰もやりたがらなかった。したがって、腐食のリスクが高いとされるものや、誰かが原子炉を誤用して兵器級の核分裂性物質を製造するという仮説的な危険性など、溶融塩反応器の使用に反対するあらゆる種類のふりをした議論が持ち込まれた。

Another reason for the lack of acceptance of the alternative reactor type was the absolute lack of interest of the nuclear industry around the world. With the classic nuclear reactors, excellent money could be earned, and no one wanted to do without the income from the production of fuel rods. Therefore, all sorts of pretended arguments against the use of molten salt reactors were brought into play, such as the allegedly higher risk of corrosion and the hypothetical danger that someone will misuse the reactors to produce weapons-grade fissile material.

これは、中華人民共和国が2011年以来、TMSR-LF1の開発に4億ユーロ相当を投資することを妨げていない。結局のところ、北京の指導者たちは、2050年までに中国を「クライメートニュートラル」にするという野心的な目標を追求しており、溶融塩反応器の「完璧な技術」は絶対に不可欠であることを証明することができるだろう。

This has not prevented the People’s Republic of China from investing the equivalent of 400 million euros in the development of the TMSR-LF1 since 2011. After all, Beijing’s leaders are pursuing the ambitious goal of making the Middle Kingdom “climate neutral” by 2050, and the “perfect technology” of molten salt reactors could prove absolutely indispensable.

250MW溶融塩核分裂エネルギー発電設備 / 250 MW Molten Salt Fission Energy Power Facility

現在ゴビ砂漠の端でテストされている原子炉は、当初の公称出力はわずか2メガワットです。これは、約1000世帯にしか電力を供給できないことを意味します。しかし、TMSR-LF1の設計原理が成功すれば、出力373メガワットのトリウム溶融塩反応器の最初のプロトタイプが2030年頃までに稼働し、その後、中国全土で同じプラントが急速に連続して稼働します。ドイツが今なお原子力から遠ざかり続けるのか、それとも今も「グリーン原子力エネルギー」に頼っているのかは、まだ分からない。

The reactor, which is now to be tested on the edge of the Gobi Desert, initially has a nominal output of only two megawatts. This means that it can only supply around 1000 households with electricity. If the design principle of the TMSR-LF1 proves successful, however, the first prototype of a Thorium Molten Salt reactor with an output of 373 megawatts would go into operation by around 2030, which will then be followed by identical plants throughout China in rapid succession. It remains to be seen whether Germany will still remain in its abstinence from nuclear power at this time or whether it will now also rely on “green nuclear energy”.

中国ゴビ砂漠溶融塩工業施設 / Chinese Gobi Desert Molten Salt Industrial Facility

ゴビ砂漠溶融塩インスタレーション / Gobi Desert Molten Salt Installation

Dr. Mark Ho of ANSTO 12 May 2021 Molten Salt Review Download

China SINAP TMSR Progress Yang Zou Netherlands 5 July 2019 Download

China SINAP TMSR Progress Hongjie Xu Shanghai 27 Sept 2018 Download

China SINAP TMSR Progress Hongjie Xu Switzerland 24 Jan 2017 Download

China SINAP TMSR Progress Hongjie Xu ORNL 5 Oct 2016 Download

China SINAP TMSR Progress Hongjie Xu CAS 27 Oct 2015 Download

China SINAP TMSR Progress Hongjie Xu ORNL 15 Oct 2015 Download

Development of GH3535 Alloy for Thorium Molten Salt Reactor

Development of GH3535 Alloy for Thorium Molten Salt Reactor – Wang et al 2018 Download

Wuwei , Gansu, China

プロイセン総合新聞について

About the Prussian General Newspaper

PreußischeAllgemeineZeitung（PAZ）は、ドイツのメディア業界で唯一の声です。毎週、政治、文化、ビジネスの現在の出来事を報告し、私たちの社会の根本的な発展を支持しています。彼らの作品の中で、編集者は伝統的なプルーセンの価値観にコミットしていると感じています。古いプルーセンは、宗教的および思想的寛容、祖国への愛情と寛容さ、法の支配と知的誠実さ、そして特に社会のすべての分野での理由に基づく行動。このことを念頭に置いて、PAZはオープンな議論の文化を維持しています。これは、情熱的に独自の視点を表し、異なる考え方をする人々の意見を尊重し、発言権を与えます。日々の出来事を超えて、PAZは歴史的なプロイセンを思い出し、その文化遺産を大切にすることにコミットしていると感じています。これらの原則により、PreußischeAllgemeine Zeitungは、昨日、今日、明日、西と東の国と地域の間、そして私たちの国のさまざまな社会の流れの間のユニークなジャーナリズムの架け橋です。

The Preußische Allgemeine Zeitung (PAZ) is a unique voice in the German media landscape. Week after week, it reports on current events in politics, culture and business and takes a stand on the fundamental developments in our society. In their work, the editors feel committed to the traditional Prussian canon of values: The old Prussia stood and stands for religious and ideological tolerance, for love of homeland and open-mindedness, for the rule of law and intellectual honesty, and not least for reason-guided action in all areas of society . With this in mind, the PAZ maintains an open culture of debate, which passionately represents its own point of view and respects the opinions of those who think differently – and also lets them have their say. Beyond day-to-day events, the PAZ feels committed to remembering historical Prussia and caring for its cultural heritage. With these principles, the Preußische Allgemeine Zeitung is a unique journalistic bridge between yesterday, today and tomorrow, between the countries and regions in West and East – as well as between the different social currents in our country.

Translation courtesy of Duck Duck Go – Your personal data is nobody’s business.

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Links and References

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