Molten Salt Reactor: Safer Nuclear Energy?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molten_salt_reactor
I overheard a really interesting discussion regarding thorium and Molten Salt Reactor's. I've read through the wikipedia page but this is way over my head. I'm just curious if it's true what I heard that this is the "future" of nuclear energy and that it is a much safer reactor design.
Integral Fast Reactor
The Integral Fast Reactor concept by Argonne National Lab is "inherently safe" or "passively safe". Coutesy of PBS Frontline, read the interview by Pulitzer Prize winning author Richard Rhodes with Dr. Charles Till of Argonne:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/reaction/interviews/till.html
Recommended video:
Recommended video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=eRdC5I0Yn2k
"Sodium reactors were being
"Sodium reactors were being developed because there was a concern there was not enough uranium to fuel all the nuclear reactors being built at the time."
World's 1st nuclear meltdown in 1959 in Simi Valley, CA. Story covered by The History Channel.
"There is no need for fuel
"There is no need for fuel fabrication. This reduces the MSR's fuel expenses. It poses a business challenge, because reactor manufacturers get their long-term profits from fuel fabrication. Since it uses raw fuel, basically just a mixture of chemicals, current reactor vendors have limited incentives to develop it. A government agency could however, type-license a design, which utilities could replicate. An alternative business model might be to charge for maintenance and reprocessing of the salt."
I find this statement from the article very intriguing. It seems like alot of what I've read makes a pretty good case for replacement of outdated reactor designs with the MSR. The article goes on to state that with an MSR there is NO possiblity of a pressure explosion in the case of an accident...it also claims molten salt traps fission products therefore in the case of a leak it would stay in the salt and would not be released into the atmosphere. I'm probably getting ahead of myself. Comments...correction...clarification?
unlikely to become commercial
Variations of this design have been around more than 50 years. While it has some safety advantages (sort of) it has some operational challenges. And its not table salt, its liquid sodium, etc and it is not exactly inert. Don't drink the Koolaid!
Also...I was aware of the
Also...I was aware of the fact that we aren't discussing table salt. Here is a pretty informative link regarding liquid-fluoride reactor: http://energyfromthorium.com/2006/04/23/introducing-the-liquid-fluoride-...
I was scanning the homepage and stumbled upon this comment from the blog founder Kirk Sorenson...“A lot of people are thinking that we’ve seen the end of nuclear power. I’ve bet my own future and my family’s future that we are at the beginning of a new thorium age.”
The article also goes on to state that the only reactor producing medical isotopes in North America is due to shutdown in the next three years and the thorium reactor would be a great application for such isotopes. I would imagine this has implications for ALOT of universities and hospitals.
I'm not sure what you mean
I'm not sure what you mean by "don't drink the koolaid". Regardless thank you for your response Anon. I spent most of last night reading about Gen IV reactor designs...It's some pretty interesting stuff! Any thoughts on what might be the next safer/cleaner reactor design in development? I'm obviously not a student of physics...but it would be nice to have something on the horizon to look forward to considering nuclear energy isn't going to just disappear.
Also...Aircraft Reactor
Also...Aircraft Reactor Experiment...I'm a little terrified and alot intrigued.
aircraft reactor
Definitely worth a looking up, Googling or otherwise. Air cooled reactor, exhausted directly out of the plane, no shielding except for the cockpit crew... flying over the western US, silently irradiating everyone below... Thanks Military-Industrial Complex!
Still quite clean compared
Still quite clean compared to the nuclear powered cruise missle:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Pluto
Oops. DanR = OP
Oops. DanR = OP