Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
A sample of thorium. Thorium-based nuclear power generation is fueled primarily by the nuclear fission of the isotope uranium-233 produced from the fertile element thorium.A thorium fuel cycle can offer several potential advantages over a uranium fuel cycle [Note 1] —including the much greater abundance of thorium found on Earth, superior physical and nuclear fuel properties, and reduced ...
Kirk Sorensen, former NASA scientist and chief nuclear technologist at Teledyne Brown Engineering, is a long-time promoter of the thorium fuel cycle, coining the term liquid fluoride thorium reactor. In 2011, Sorensen founded Flibe Energy, [38] a company aimed at developing 20–50 MW LFTR reactor designs to power military bases. (It is easier ...
Thorium is a future potential source of low-carbon energy. [1] Thorium has been demonstrated to perform as a nuclear fuel in several reactor designs. [2] [3] It is present with a higher abundance than uranium in the crust of the earth. Thorium resources have not been estimated and assessed with a higher level of confidence, as in the case of ...
Although thorium dioxide performed well at burnups of 170,000 MWd/t and 150,000 MWd/t at Fort St. Vrain Generating Station and AVR respectively, [6] challenges complicate achieving this in light water reactors (LWR), which compose the vast majority of existing power reactors. In a once-through thorium fuel cycle, thorium-based fuels produce far ...
Performing research and testing to qualify the TRISO LEU fuel for GEN-IV reactors in the US. Exploring the use of proliferation-resistant fuels in the US, including thorium-based and other advanced fuel cycle concepts. Performing basic and applied research using the enhanced capabilities offered by a "Generation IV" type nuclear reactor system.
NuScale Power Corporation is a publicly traded American company that designs and markets small modular reactors (SMRs). It is headquartered in Tigard, Oregon.A 50 MWe version of the design was certified by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in January 2023. [3]
The reactor physics design is tuned to maximise the use of thorium based fuel, by achieving a slightly negative void coefficient. Fulfilling these requirements has been possible through the use of PuO 2 -ThO 2 MOX, and ThO 2 - 233 UO 2 MOX in different pins of the same fuel cluster, and the use of a heterogeneous moderator consisting of ...
A two fluid reactor that has thorium in the fuel salt is sometimes called a "one and a half fluid" reactor, or 1.5 fluid reactor. [26] This is a hybrid, with some of the advantages and disadvantages of both 1 fluid and 2 fluid reactors. Like the 1 fluid reactor, it has thorium in the fuel salt, which complicates the fuel processing.