Why is a molten salt reactor safer?
MSRs are safer and more stable since they don’t reach high enough temperatures for meltdown (since the fuel is in a molten state) and the primary system is at a low operating pressure even at high temperature, due to the high boiling point (∼ 1400 °C at atmospheric pressure) and therefore do not require expensive …
How does a thorium molten salt reactor work?
The liquid fluoride thorium reactor (LFTR) is a heterogeneous MSR design which breeds its U-233 fuel from a fertile blanket of lithium-beryllium fluoride (FLiBe) salts with thorium fluoride. The thorium-232 captures neutrons from the reactor core to become protactinium-233, which decays (27-day half-life) to U-233.
What is a thorium salt reactor?
How was thorium discovered?
Thorium was discovered by Jöns Jacob Berzelius in 1828, in Stockholm, Sweden after he received a sample of an unusual black mineral from Hans Esmark found on an island close to Brevik, Norway. Thorium was discovered to be radioactive by Gerhard Schmidt in 1898 – the first element after uranium to be identified as such.
What is the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment?
The experiment was called the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment, or MSRE. The MSRE used a thorium fuel cycle. It used a lithium beryllium fluoride coolant salt mixture, called FLiBe. It used a graphite moderator. It used a special material called Hastelloy N – a nickel alloy developed specifically to withstand the harsh environment.
Is a thorium reactor a molten salt reactor?
Plans for thorium reactors often depict them as molten salt reactors (only the plans exist, since no commercial thorium reactors have been built).
Why doesn’t India use a molten salt nuclear reactor?
The thorium reactor that India is working on uses a plutonium core to provide the neutrons, so it is a fast-breeder reactor, and would be more difficult to shut down if something went wrong. [5,7] It is also a solid-fuel heavy water reactor, so it lacks whatever high-temperature stability benefits a molten salt reactor might have. [7]
Where did thorium-based MSRs come from?
Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) pioneered thorium-based MSRs in the 1950s for nuclear aircraft propulsion as part of the Manhattan Project. A 7.4 MW th experimental reactor operated at the laboratory over a period of four years —although only a portion of its fuel was derived from uranium-233 bred from thorium in other reactors.