Thorium Nuclear Reactor

January 29, 2019

Thorium Nuclear Reactor

The World Nuclear Association says there are seven types of thorium reactor but molten salt reactors using a liquid fluoride saltthorium fuel-mix show the greatest promise for marine use. Nuclear energy economics are driven by the capital cost of the plant and building a power plant with a thorium reactor is no cheaper than building a power plant with a uranium reactor.

Explanation Of A Thorium Reactor Layout 15 Download Scientific Diagram

Thorium is weakly radioactive has a high melting point and is available with more abundance than uranium as an element.

Thorium nuclear reactor. Thorium is at minimum 3 times more abundant in the earths crust. Plentiful to make thorium economically viable. Simple math average amounts.

Using a traditional light-water once-through reactor thorium fuel would need both uranium enrichment or plutonium separation and thorium target rod production. The technique is not yet out-developed let alone tried. These components are the product of the nuclear reaction and are formed in any reactor thorium molten salt reactors included.

Often pronounced lifter is a type of molten salt reactorLFTRs use the thorium fuel cycle with a fluoride-based molten liquid salt for fuelIn a typical design the liquid is pumped between a critical core and an external heat exchanger where the heat is transferred to a nonradioactive secondary salt. Liquid fluoride thorium reactors LFTR are fundamentally different from uranium reactors. During the fuel burning thorium 232 transforms into a fissile uranium 233.

The countrys current largest reactor a non-commercial facility is the 30 MW GA Siwabessy reactor in Serpong Banten. The Thorium reactor is not quite there yet. Unlike natural uranium natural thorium contains only trace amounts of fissile material such as thorium 231 which are insufficient to initiate and sustain nuclear chain reaction.

Many say uranium is too cheap ie. Thorium is known to be three to four times higher in abundance than uranium thereby has the potential of ensuring nuclear fuel sustainability for the world increasing energy need. A thorium reactor is a form of nuclear energy proposed for use as a molten salt reactor.

According to their enthusiastic proponents these reactors will be smaller safer cheaper cleaner will take over the energy market in great numbers andwill reinvent the global energy landscape and sketch an end to our dependence on fossil fuels within three to five years. The liquid fluoride thorium reactor LFTR. All serious scientists think it will still take several decades before there reactors are available for commercial use.

Using a breeder reactor makes costly reprocessing necessary. Thorium reactors are based on the thorium fuel cycle and use thorium 232 as a fertile material. Thorium molten-salt reactors were first invented 60 years ago but Yang appears to be the first presidential candidate to campaign on their promise to make nuclear energy safer cleaner and.

It is fueled by the uranium-233 isotope that is taken from the element thorium. Thorium reactors are the latest flavour in nuclear power hype. Thorium reactors do not produce plutonium.

Three large historic nuclear accidents Harrisburg Chernobyl Fukushima have shown that the major risk during and after nuclear accidents lies in the spreading of radioactive iodine caesium and strontium. The rest is U 238. A short video of Kirk Sorensen taking us through the benefits of Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors a revolutionary liquid reactor that runs not on uranium b.

The secondary salt then transfers its heat to a. Numerous claims of advantages for thorium as a nuclear fuel and for LFTR Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor design have been made over conventional solid fuel reactors. But with a thorium reactor one can also make nuclear weapons material.

Uranium 235 the reactor fuel is only 05 to 07 percent of natural uranium. The proposed reactor is however smaller than a fully commercial 500 MW. Current nuclear reactor technology is using only 015 of uranium that is mined.

Further using thorium in existing reactors is technically possible but it would not provide any clear commercial benefit and would require other new. Fabricating thorium fuel is expensive. The thorium fuel cycle would be more expensive than the uranium fuel cycle.

The driving prospects of thorium-based nuclear fuels in reactor operation are summarised as follows.

Is Thorium The Fuel Of The Future To Revitalize Nuclear Power Engineering