I order to get the thorium to burn, either U235 or Pu239 must be included in the fuel load. But to comply with Nuclear regulatory agency rules, only 5% or under U235/Pu239 concentration must be maintained. This means that almost 95% of the fuel load must be U238. This fuel load generates mostly Pu239 with a small amount of U233 that comes from thorium breeding.
This makes Thorium a minor additive to a uranium breeder reactor. But molten salt is a good idea. The best application of the molten salt reactor is the pebble bed version designed by Dr. Per Peterson, IMHO. The salt keeps the radioactive dust from the pebbles under control. https://kairospower.com/technology/ Now that LENR is working, this is all horse and buggy tech. On Tue, Mar 12, 2019 at 8:19 PM H LV <hveeder...@gmail.com> wrote: > > https://www.technologyreview.com/the-download/608712/a-thorium-salt-reactor-has-fired-up-for-the-first-time-in-four-decades/?fbclid=IwAR2UXaco_FNvQq6WTJdBR60hc7IAhW-cmLK0Ivtgk0dg0uRe5XGck8OzphY > > A Thorium-Salt Reactor Has Fired Up for the First Time in Four Decades > > The road to cleaner, meltdown-proof nuclear power has taken a big step > forward. Researchers at NRG, a Dutch nuclear materials firm, have begun the > first tests of nuclear fission using thorium salts since experiments ended > at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the early 1970s. > > Thorium has several advantages over uranium, the fuel that powers most > nuclear reactors in service today. First, it's much harder to weaponize. > Second, as we pointed out last year in a long read on thorium-salt > reactors > <https://www.technologyreview.com/s/602051/fail-safe-nuclear-power/>, > designs that call for using it in a liquid form are, essentially, > self-regulating and fail-safe. > > The team at NRG is testing several reactor designs > <http://www.thoriumenergyworld.com/news/finally-worlds-first-tmsr-experiment-in-over-40-years-started> > on > a small scale at first. The first experiment is on a setup called a > molten-salt fast reactor, which burns thorium salt and in theory should > also be able to consume spent nuclear fuel from typical uranium fission > reactions. > > The tests come amid renewed global interest in thorium. While updated > models of uranium-fueled power plants are struggling mightily > <https://www.technologyreview.com/s/603647/meltdown-of-toshibas-nuclear-business-dooms-new-construction-in-the-us/> > to > get off the ground in the U.S., several startup companies are exploring > molten-salt reactors. China, meanwhile, is charging ahead with big plans > for its nuclear industry, including a heavy bet on thorium-based reactors. > The country plans to have the first such power plants hooked up to the grid > inside 15 years. If they pull it off, it might just help usher in a safer > future for nuclear power. >
