Fifty years ago, the era of operating molten-salt reactors came to a prolonged conclusion with the shut down of the Molten-Salt Reactor Experiment. In a personal interview in 2012, Paul Haubenreich had told me the story of the Christmas shutdown of the MSRE. He had described how Milton Shaw, the head of the Atomic Energy […]
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 […]
As was previously mentioned, the actual work on continuous fluorination was surprising small during the Molten-Salt Reactor Program (MSRP) that ran from 1957 until 1976. Fuel reconstitution was mentioned on pages 199-201 of ORNL-3936 in June 1966. Continuous fluorination was mentioned on page 202. They described an experiment using a 1-inch diameter nickel column with […]
All fission reactors turn fissile material like uranium or plutonium into an array of fission and activation products (such as plutonium or neptunium). These fission and activation products have a wide variety of physical and chemical properties. Some are noble gases, some are metals, some are volatile at the operation temperature, and others remain part […]
‘Petten’ has started world’s first MSR-specific thorium fuel irradiation experiments in 45 years World’s First Thorium Molten Salt Experiment in over 45 Years
Imagine a bathtub full of water, all the way to the edge of the tub. You may have the water temperature just the way you want it, but the water is cooling. Eventually you want to add hot water to the tub, but you can’t do so without it spilling over the edge. So you […]
Over the last few months I’ve had several interviews with Dave Mosher, and he has produced an impressive piece of history and technological reviews about the LFTR that I think is well worth reading: Business Insider: A forgotten war technology could safely power Earth for millions of years. Here’s why we aren’t using it “The […]
I was asked to speak at the Platts Nuclear Energy Conference in Washington, DC, on February 10, as part of their panel on “New Approaches to Advanced Reactor Design.”
This film was produced in 1969 by Oak Ridge National Laboratory for the United States Atomic Energy Commission to inform the public regarding the history, technology, and milestones of the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE). Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Molten Salt Reactor Experiment was designed to assess the viability of liquid fuel reactor technologies for […]
Several years ago I had the opportunity to write an article for Machine Design magazine. Last year I was contacted again and offered another opportunity to write an article for them. They had had success with a series where questions were often asked were answered by experts. The question that they had often been asked […]