In 2020, the US Congress directed the Department of Energy (DOE) to write a report within 180 days about the potential of thorium and uranium-233 as fuels for future nuclear reactors. Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall, after consulting with relevant entities, including National Laboratories, […]
October 8, 2018, marks the fiftieth anniversary of the operation of the Molten-Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE) using uranium-233 as a fuel. U-233 does not occur naturally; it is formed when thorium absorbs a neutron then undergoes a double beta decay to form U-233. U-233 is a superior nuclear fuel, producing enough neutrons through its fission […]
One of the leaders of the MSRP effort was Paul Haubenreich, who was the co-author along with Dick Engel of the journal article “Experience with the Molten-Salt Reactor Experiment” in February 1970. Mr. Haubenreich is a WWII veteran and graduated from the University of Tennessee and the Oak Ridge School of Reactor Technology (ORSORT). Mr. […]
I really enjoyed watching Alex Pasternack’s new short video on Dr. Edward Teller: Motherboard TV: Doctor Teller’s Strange Loves, from the Hydrogen Bomb to Thorium Energy Ralph Moir had told me this story about Teller before, but watching it presented this way with the video interviews of Teller and short descriptions of projects that we […]
In trying to answer the persistent question about LFTRs: “why wasn’t this done before?” I’ve obtained a report from 1962 made to President Kennedy where future development options for nuclear power were laid before him. Alvin Weinberg specifically references this report in his 1994 memoir (“First Nuclear Era”) and goes on to say that it […]
I think that if a technophile like myself were to design their dream work environment, it would look very much like the Google campus. Coming from the sweltering summer heat of Alabama to the cool evening breezes of Mountain View, one might say that they started out ahead–but the Google experience just kept getting better. […]