Fluoride action network funding for thorium molten salt and. Juhaszl nasa glenn research center, cleveland, ohio 445 richard a. Image how does a fluoride reactor use thorium from pdf kirk sorensen. First new thorium salt reactor in 40 years comes online. A molten salt reactor msr is a class of generation iv nuclear fission reactor in which the primary nuclear reactor coolant, or even the fuel itself, is a molten salt mixture. Second, as we pointed out last year in a long read on thorium salt reactors, designs that call for using it in a liquid form are. Pdf advantages of liquid fluoride thorium reactor in.
Lftr or liquid fluoride thorium reactor is a safer, cleaner, and more efficient nuclear reactor. Liquid fluoride thorium reactor lftr is an innovative design for the thermal. Dont believe the spin on thorium being a greener nuclear option. Moltensaltfueled reactors msrs supply the nuclear fuel in the form of a molten salt mixture. Lftrs use a combination of thorium a common element widely found in the earth and fluoride salts to. Thorium becomes earths most abundant stored energy resource when used in the lftr. Liquid fluoride thorium reactors an old idea in nuclear power gets reexamined robert hargraves and ralph moir what if we could turn back the clock to 1965 and have an energy doover. Thorium and uranium233 are dissolved in molten lithium fluoride salt in the reactor. Molten salt reactors are generation iv nuclear fission reactors that use molten salt as either the primary reactor coolant or as the fuel itself. Mar 10, 2012 a short video of kirk sorensen taking us through the benefits of liquid fluoride thorium reactors, a revolutionary liquid reactor that runs not on uranium, but thorium. Reactors containing molten thorium salt are called liquid fluoride thorium reactors lftr. Dec 18, 2019 admittedly yang does not clarify what type of thorium reactor he is referring to, but from his comments it is likely that he is referring to the liquid flouride throrium reactor lftr or some similar variant, which uses liquid fluoride as the coolant rather than water, and does not use solid fuel, but rather adds the fuel unanium 233 to the. A slightly different type of msr can consume the uraniumplutonium waste from solidfueled reactors as fuel. High efficiency nuclear power plants using liquid fluoride thorium.
Update on the liquid fluoride thorium reactor projects in. The objective of the liquidfluoride thorium reactor lftr design proposed by flibe energy. Medical isotope production in liquidfluoride reactors kirk sorensen flibe energy huntsville, alabama kirk. An old idea in nuclear power gets reexamined by robert b. Request pdf liquid fluoride thorium reactors the molten salt reactor experiment msre achieved criticality for the first time at oak ridge national laboratory ornl in tennessee. Lessons for the liquidfluoride thorium reactor pdf. High efficiency nuclear power plants using liquid fluoride. Is thorium the fuel of the future to revitalize nuclear.
Fluid fluorides and chlorides reactor research and development on molten salt reactors msrs papers, books, and reports. Semantic scholar extracted view of liquid fluoride thorium reactors. Kirk sorensen presented an introduction to flibe energy at the thorium energy conference 2011 55 pages flibe energy will initially design, develop and demonstrate a small modular liquid fluoride thorium reactor smlftr for the us military. Flibe energy liquid flouride thorium reactor company.
A significant advantage of using thorium to breed u233 is that relatively little plutonium is produced from the th232 because six more neutron absorptions are required than is the case with u238. Pdf liquid fluoride thorium reactor lftr is an innovative design for the. A liquid fluoride thorium reactor lftr is a type of molten salt reactor msr that. Liquid fluoride thorium reactors are seen as the future of energy. Liquid fluoride thorium reactor wikimili, the free encyclopedia. A thoriumsalt reactor has fired up for the first time in. Thorium reactor liquid fluoride thorium reactor lftr. Molten salt reactors msrs papers, books, and reports. Lftr liquid fluoride thorium reactor interview youtube. Its supposed hazards have been grossly exaggerated and, in fact, nuclear power has proved to be a remarkably safe technology. The liquid flouride thorium reactor lftr solution youtube. Public utilities, energy, and technology interim committee. Thus, this paper seeks to critically examine these claims and exhaustively analyze the differences between thorium plants in particular liquid fluoride thorium reactors, or lftrs and traditional uranium plants.
Uri gat, who introduced me to molten salt reactors in 1993 and dr. Researchers at nrg, a dutch firm, have started work on a fission generator that would be the first active thorium salt reactor since the closure of a reactor at oak ridge national laboratory. The large expensive breeding blanket of thorium salt was omitted in favor of neutron. Molten salt reactors incl liquid fluoride thorium reactor. We are developing thorium fission which poses considerable further benefits in terms of low cost and high safety. There is a great deal of useful information in this document. Research and development of thorium based nuclear reactors, primarily the liquid fluoride thorium reactor lftr, msr design, has been or is now being done in the united states, united kingdom, germany, brazil, india, china, france, the czech republic, japan, russia, canada, israel, denmark and the netherlands. The liquid flouride thorium reactor lftr solution sam packard. Back in the 1950s and 1960s, the scientists at oak ridge national laboratory in the usa developed the molten salt reactor design a liquid salt fueled and cooled nuclear reactor system. Molten salt reactor msr systems and thoriumuranium fuel cycle technology have been under theoretical and experimental development in the czech republic since.
But does thorium really represent nuclear innovation. Advantages of liquid fluoride thorium reactor in comparison with light water reactor aip, free pdf access scitation. Ralph moir, who continues to help and encourage me and many other pilgrims, in our molten salt adventures journey. Lftr is a moltensalt reactor design that can utilize thorium more effectively and efficiently than ever before.
In addition to delivering carbonfree electricity, lftrs high temperature. The liquid fluoride thorium reactor lftr consists of a critical core orange containing fissile uranium233 in a. At the dawn of the nuclear industry, the united states manhattan project developed the atomic bomb, or real two models of atomic bombs, one using uranium 235 and one using plutonium 239. Due to the fact that there is a flowing molten salt, the device does have to be kept quite hot, and many of the salts in the molten salt blanket are quite viscous right around their melting point. Pdfconcluded the thorium fuel cycle does not currently have a role to play. Liquid fluoride thorium reactor lftr simply too dangerous thats why it was stopped. Unlike conventional light water reactor designs, the liquid. Liquid fluoride thorium reactor lftr simply too dangerous.
Flibe energy has taken the 1960s oak ridge molten salt reactor work and enhanced the design into the liquidfluoride thorium reactor lftr. Lftrs use a combination of thorium a common element widely found in. Molten salt reactors incl liquid fluoride thorium reactor no. When people started to do research in the field of nuclear energy in the midnineties, the molten salt reactors were soon invented. Rarick2 and rajmohan rangarajan3 cleveland state university, cleveland, ohio 44115 an overall system analysis approach is used to propose potential conceptual designs of. The concept is simple, yet thoroughly investigated. In june of that year, the mol ten salt reactor experiment msre achieved criticality for the first time at oak ridge national laboratory ornl in tennessee. Thorium is the fuel we need for waste free, safe nuclear energy, say proponents. Now what with ryan duffy covers some of the innovative things people are doing about some of the worlds largest problems. This paper will focus on the liquid fluoride thorium reactor lftr design, an implementation of one such gen iv idea, the molten salt reactor. The further 80% must come from nuclear power since this is the only virtually carbon free source available. Pdf advantages of liquid fluoride thorium reactor in comparison. The liquid fluoride thorium reactor lftr offers promise for the future. Flibe energy has taken the oak ridge work and enhanced the design into the liquidfluoride thorium reactor lftr, a moltensalt reactor design that can utilize thorium more effectively and efficiently than ever before.
Liquid fluoride fundamentals graphite behaviour graphite often used as a moderator very compatible with the liquid salts as with any reactor use of graphite, it will have a limited lifetime due to fast neutron damage it first shrinks, then swells. In a typical design, the liquid is pumped between a critical core and an external heat exchanger where the heat. Lftr disadvantages liquid fluoride thorium reactors. May 25, 2016 the liquid flouride thorium reactor lftr solution sam packard. As director of oak ridge national laboratory he led development of liquid fuel reactors, including walkawaysafe liquid fluoride thorium reactors with inexhaustible fuel.
Advantages of liquid fluoride thorium reactor in comparison with light water reactor conference paper pdf available november 2014 with 1,323 reads how we measure reads. Much of their work culminated with the moltensalt reactor experiment msre. The first fuel was a highenriched 33% u235 uranium dissolved as uf4 in a lifbef2zrf4 salt. In a typical design, the liquid is pumped between a critical core and an external heat exchanger where the heat is transferred to a nonradioactive secondary salt. Alvin weinbergs liquid fuel reactors atomic insights. The goal here is to present the basics of a lftr design and the inherent advantages and problems with such a design. The liquid fluoride thorium reactor is a type of molten salt reactor. Medical isotope production in liquidfluoride reactors. It is generally considered inherently safer, cleaner and more economically viable than conventional reactors, but was not chosen by doe as the technology of choice. High efficiency nuclear power plants using liquid fluoride thorium reactor technology albert j. Perhaps these technical problems can be overcome, but why would anyone bother to try, knowing in advance that the msr plant will be uneconomic due to huge construction costs and operating costs, plus will explode and rain radioactive molten salt when not if the steam generator tubes leak. Liquid fluoride thorium reactor essay example for free newyorkessays database with more than 65000 college essays for studying. Lessons for the liquid fluoride thorium reactor pdf.
As fission radioactive decay occurs, heat is released and free neutrons start changing more thorium into uranium233. A liquid fluoride thorium reactor lftr is a type of molten salt reactor msr that can use inexpensive thorium for fuel thorium becomes uranium inside the reactor. Wyoming lftr energy alliance a nonprofit association. Dec 18, 2018 to a limited group of technophiles and nuclear technology enthusiasts, thorium has become a unicorn. A lftr is a type of molten salt reactor, significantly safer than a typical nuclear reactor. Maybe we can have them become interested in molten salt reactors such as liquid fluoride thorium reactor to provide power all the time, or all the time solarwind are not generating enough, replacing coal and oil.
427 552 813 756 200 457 778 1354 337 1113 1416 1218 852 724 1297 1354 510 1197 1094 148 91 976 217 599 345 943 73 222 325 9 1072 552 501 155 800 125 829 545 310 1245 744 1014 1382 1054