China's Experimental Molten Salt Reactor Receives Operating Licence

Interesting Engineering reports:Chinese authorities have officially given the green light to commission a working thorium-based molten salt nuclear reactor. Currently under construction since 2018, the reactor in question, "Thorium Molten Salt Reactor - Liquid Fuel 1" (TMSR-LF1), is being built at the Hongshagang Industrial Cluster, Wuwei City, Gansu Province. If successful, the TMSR-LF1 has the potential to open doors for developing and constructing a more extensive demonstration facility by 2030. Additionally, it could lead to constructing a TMSR fuel salt batch pyro-process demonstration facility, which would enable the utilization of the thorium-uranium cycle by the early 2040s... It runs on a combination of thorium and uranium-235, enriched at 19.75 percent by weight, and can operate at a maximum temperature of 650C for up to 10 years. The liquid fuel design is based on the Molten-Salt Reactor Experiment conducted by Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the 1960s... China intends to construct a reactor with a capacity of 373 MWt by 2030 if the TMSR-LF1 succeeds. Thorium is more abundant than uranium, notes the South China Morning Post - and China is thought to have one of the world's largest thorium reserves. But a thorium reactor should also produce less waste, and using molten salts as both a fuel and a coolant "potentially eliminates the need for large quantities of water, which is a significant advantage in areas where water resources are limited." India has also been pursuing thorium-based nuclear technologies, including MSRs. The Indian Molten Salt Breeder Reactor project, initiated in the 1980s, aimed to develop a thorium-based breeder reactor. However, the project has faced challenges related to materials compatibility, fuel reprocessing and overall system complexity and has not progressed to commercial-scale use... China reportedly plans to sell small thorium reactors to other countries as part of the Belt and Road Initiative, Beijing's global infrastructure plan. Thanks to Slashdot reader sonlas for sharing the news.

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