It has the largest proven thorium reserves and the worlds only operating thorium reactor, kakrapar1, a converted conventional pressurized water reactor. Liquid fuel nuclear reactors jan 2011 and american scientist. Using that template, the energy from thorium team helped produce a design for a new liquid fluoride thorium reactor, or lftr pronounced lifter, which, according to estimates by sorensen and others, would be some 50 percent more efficient than todays lightwater uranium reactors. The goal of thorium breeding was deferred since the favored design at the time was a tworegion liquidfluoride breeder. Thorium can thus be burned in a conventional reactor along with enriched uranium or plutonium to provide the necessary neutrons. Liquid fluoride thorium reactor page 4 physics forums. Unlike uranium, thorium is abundant, and its not nearly as dangerous.
Advantages of liquid fluoride thorium reactor in comparison. Thorium energy can help check co2 and global warming, cut deadly air pollution, provide inexhaustible energy, and increase human prosperity. Videos pertaining to thorium as an energy source, usually via liquid fluoride thorium reactor lftr which is a type of molten salt reactor msr. The amount of material inhaled should be assessed and documented. Now what with ryan duffy covers some of the innovative things people are doing about some of the worlds largest problems.
Oak ridge national laboratory ornl took the lead in researching msrs through the 1960s. Liquidfluoride thorium reactor development strategy. Liquid fluoride thorium reactor was nominated as a engineering and technology good article, but it did not meet the good article criteria at the time. U233 is a superior nuclear fuel, producing enough neutrons through its fission. Fluid fluorides and chlorides reactor research and development on. A proven and highly promising thorium reactor technology is the liquid fluoride thorium reactor lftr. Msrs make no longterm nuclear waste over 99% of the fuel is. At temperatures above 500 c, it reacts with atmospheric moisture to produce thof 2.
A molten salt reactor, such as the liquid fluoride thorium reactor lftr produces energy using a liquid molten nuclear fuel, not a solid fuel. It utilized a lithium7beryllium fluoride solvent into which was dissolved zirconium and uranium tetrafluorides. China enters race to develop nuclear energy from thorium scientists and private firms in china have embarked on a major new push to develop liquidfluoride thorium reactor technology video. Aug 28, 2017 unlike uranium, thorium is abundant, and its not nearly as dangerous. We dont know the ways lftrs would fail, just like we didnt know decades ago that a 9. As fission radioactive decay occurs, heat is released and free neutrons start changing more thorium into uranium233. Liquid fluoride reactors lftrs exposing the truth about.
In spite of special precautionary measures needed with the use of thf 4, it still is the premier coating material for lasers in. Innovative thorium energy uses economic persuasion to end the pollution, to provide energy and prosperity to developing nations, and to create energy security for all people for all time. It seems, afaik, a large pool of a c mixture of thorium fluoride, with substantial amounts of uranium and other transmutation products, where reaction speeds are muted if the temperature rises too much. Molten salt reactors are generation iv nuclear fission reactors that use molten salt as either the primary reactor coolant or as the fuel itself. Lftrs use the thorium fuel cycle with a fluoridebased, molten. When people started to do research in the field of nuclear energy in the midnineties, the molten salt reactors were soon invented. 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. Gram per gram, thorium is much more efficient than uranium, as around 99% of it is used in the reaction. Thorium is usually thrown away during the process of mining rareearth metals. Stuff that is generic to the thorium fuel cycle should be primarily covered in that article. Kirk may find dr jerry tennats book on healing is voltage as well as his you.
Monazite placers are reported from australia, egypt, india, liberia, brazil, malgachi and the united states of america flo rida. High efficiency nuclear power plants using liquid fluoride thorium reactor technology albert j. It is a white hygroscopic powder which can be produced by reacting thorium with fluorine gas. Liquid fluoride thorium reactor lftr simply too dangerous thats why it was stopped.
Lftrs use the thorium fuel cycle with a fluoridebased, molten, liquid salt for fuel. There is a great deal of useful information in this document. According to proponents, a thorium fuel cycle offers several potential advantages over a uranium fuel cycleincluding much greater abundance of thorium on earth, superior physical and nuclear fuel properties, and reduced nuclear waste production. But a better way is to turn the element into its fluoride, mix that with fluorides of beryllium and lithium to bring its meltingpoint down from 1,110. Discover delightful childrens books with prime book box, a subscription that. October 8, 2018, marks the fiftieth anniversary of the operation of the moltensalt reactor experiment msre using uranium233 as a fuel. Thorium is generally accepted as proliferation resistant compared to upu cycles. Lftr is fluoride based liquid fuel, that use the thorium dissolved in salt mixture of lithium fluoride and beryllium fluoride. With coauthor ralph moir he has written articles for the american physical society forum on physics and society. 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. Aka molten salt reactors msr, or liquid fluoride thorium. Liquid fluoride thorium reactor, no risk of loss of coolant accidents, no longterm nuclear waste can even consume waste from other reactors, excellent. Energy provision has now become a live issue with the consequences posed by carbon emissions, climate change and the shortage of fuel.
Our experience with smallscale wind power has shown us the limitations of renewable energy, often hailed as the solution to the. 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 reactor liquid fluoride thorium reactor lftr. The liquid fluoride thorium reactor pronounced lifter in. The liquid fluoride thorium reactor lftr is a promising, innovative reactor design that uses liquid instead of solid fuel, and thorium instead of uranium, giving it considerable benefits over traditional uraniumfuelled light water reactors lwrs. Reactor vhtr, msrmolten salt reactor, or lftr liquid fluoride thorium reactor refer to indirectly. This paper will focus on the liquid fluoride thorium reactor lftr design, an implementation of one such gen iv idea, the molten salt reactor. New molten salt thorium reactor powers up for first time. Weinberg and his men proved the efficacy of thorium reactors in. Stuff that is generic to breeder reactors should be covered in that cycle. Lftr or liquid fluoride thorium reactor is a safer, cleaner, and more efficient nuclear reactor. Thorium fluoride, thf4, for optical coating materion. Enrichment is not necessary, and thus its extremely difficult to create nuclear weapons with a thoriumbased reactor. Thorium reactors are the latest flavour in nuclear power hype.
According to their enthusiastic proponents, these reactors will be smaller, safer, cheaper, cleaner, will take over the energy market in great numbers, and. But the book inspired him to pursue an intense study of nuclear energy over the. 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. Uranium is so last century enter thorium, the new green nuke. Lftrs use the thorium fuel cycle with a fluoridebased, molten, liquid salt for fuel moltensaltfueled reactors msrs supply the nuclear fuel in the form of a molten salt mixture. The first phase of the salt irradiation experiment salient has begun at the nuclear research and consultancy group in petten, a nuclear research facility on the dutch north sea coast. Msrs also use a coolant that remains liquid at atmospheric pressure.
Moody modern reactor control relies heavily on the delayed neutrons, that are released hundreds of generations. Thorium reactors are the latest big thing in nuclear spin. What is a lftr, and how can a reactor be so safe molten salt. Thorium is the third source of fission energy and the lftr is the idealized mechanism to turn this resource into electrical energy. Molten salt reactors incl liquid fluoride thorium reactor. The first fuel was a highenriched 33% u235 uranium dissolved as uf4 in a lifbef2zrf4 salt. In spite of special precautionary measures needed with the use of thf 4, it still is the premier coating material for lasers in the 8. Feb 16, 2011 china enters race to develop nuclear energy from thorium scientists and private firms in china have embarked on a major new push to develop liquidfluoride thorium reactor technology video. Thorium based nuclear power generation is fueled primarily by the nuclear fission of the isotope uranium233 produced from the fertile element thorium. Lftr liquid fluoride thorium reactor interview youtube. Liquid fluoride thorium reactors ive read that lftr liquid fluoride thorium reactors that uses very hot liquid fuel in place of solid uranium pellets, is substantially safer and more efficient than traditional nuclear reactors. Enrichment is not necessary, and thus its extremely difficult to.
The liquid fluoride thorium reactor lftr offers promise for the future. Rarick2 and rajmohan rangarajan3 cleveland state university, cleveland, ohio 44115 an overall system analysis approach is used to propose potential conceptual designs of. Safety assessment of molten salt reactors in comparison with light. About lftr liquid flouride thorium reactors lftr now. Thorium and uranium233 are dissolved in molten lithium fluoride salt in the reactor.
Every time a nuclear power reactor idea doesnt work out, and ordinary people get downhearted and start to doubt the magnificence and benificence of nuclear energy, nuclear proponents rush back to their wellstocked dream factory to fetch another idea one that is. It was invented during the 1950s and 1960s in oak ridge labs, but was quickly abandoned since the nuclear reactions were found to be not good for bombmaking. We have to consider the possible failure methods of any nuclear reactor design. The concept is simple, yet thoroughly investigated. Thorium fluoride thorium tetrafluoride 709596100 100. What is a lftr, and how can a reactor be so safe molten. 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. First moltensalt thorium nuclear reactor experiment in over 45 years starts in the netherlands. Molten salt reactors, including liquid fluoride thorium reactors. The largest known reserves of thorium are contained in the beach and inland placer deposits of monazite, which is exploited so far for its ree content 5560% reo. Certainly the fission products from a thorium reactor are a worry, technetium99 has a half life of 220,000 years, uranium232 produces thallium208 a nasty wee gamma emitter, selenium79 another gamma emitter with a 327,000 year halflife, eventhorium232 is a problem with its half life of 14 billion years and while the t232 isnt a. Nov 19, 2008 thorium is the third source of fission energy and the lftr is the idealized mechanism to turn this resource into electrical energy. Update on the liquid fluoride thorium reactor projects in. Molten salt reactors msrs papers, books, and reports.
Surrounding the main reactor chamber would be a blanket chamber of thorium tetrafluoride in a carrier salt. Robert hargraves is a study leader for energy policy at dartmouth ilead. Therefore, lftr technology is fundamentally different from the solid fuel. Current usage of thoriumindia is the market leader in trying to harness thorium for the energy grid. Liquid fluoride thorium reactor thread starter gcarlin. Wyoming lftr energy alliance a nonprofit association. The generation iv reactor designs are attempts to do just that. The experiment is being carried out in cooperation with the european commission laboratory joint. In spite of special precautionary measures needed with the use of thf 4, it still is the premier coating material for lasers in the 812 m region. This highthermalconductivity high thermalexpansivity liquid is a fluoride salt that melts at moderately high temperatures and circulates at low pressures without the need for expensive pressure vessels. High efficiency nuclear power plants using liquid fluoride.
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. It is publicly known that even reactor grade plutonium can be made into a bomb if done carefully. Scientific, technical, or historical information from. That proved to be the most pivotal year in energy history, according to the. In terms of advantages, it has a higher melting point, is more prevalent, and its spent fuel has much lower radiation after 300 years. Heat from the reactor is transferred to another loop of molten salt not containing nuclear materials.
This book presents a lucid explanation of the workings of thorium based reactors. Energy cheaper than coal will dissuade all nations from burning coal. The liquid fluoride thorium reactor is a type of molten salt reactor. 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. New dawn for thorium nuclear reactor research the engineer. A slightly different type of msr can consume the uraniumplutonium waste from solidfueled reactors as fuel. Lftrs use the thorium fuel cycle with a fluoride based, molten, liquid salt for fuel. Enough safe, clean energy, globally sustainable for s of. Pdf advantages of liquid fluoride thorium reactor in. New molten salt thorium reactor powers up for first time in. We now have duplication between several articles thorium fuel cycle, molten salt reactor, moltensalt reactor experiment, liquid fluoride thorium reactor, and others. There are claims of liquid fluoride thorium reactors being. Ive read that lftr liquid fluoride thorium reactors that uses very hot liquid fuel in place of solid uranium pellets, is substantially safer and more efficient than traditional nuclear reactors. Our world is beset by global warming, pollution, resource conflicts, and energy poverty.
Lftr liquid fluoride thorium reactor defended by kirk sorensen. Our vision therefore is a world based on a much greater sense of equality and we are convinced that this will be a safer and happier habitat for ourselves and for generations to come. Juhaszl nasa glenn research center, cleveland, ohio 445 richard a. Lftr lftr or liquid fluoride thorium reactor is a safer, cleaner, and more efficient nuclear reactor. Much of their work culminated with the moltensalt reactor experiment msre. Liquid fluoride thorium reactors are seen as the future of energy. Apr 29, 2015 liquid fluoride thorium reactor lftr is an innovative design for the thermal breeder reactor that has important potential benefits over the traditional reactor design. With thorium, we are thus complementing our work with small wind power in providing universal electricity for communication and access to information. China enters race to develop nuclear energy from thorium. Electricity produced by the liquid fluoride thorium reactor, lftr lifter. 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. 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.
The problem with plutonium is that it can be chemically separated from the waste and perhaps used in bombs. Thorium fluoride is a naturally radioactive material and must be handled and wastes disposed of in accordance with state andor federal regulations. Despite its mild radioactivity, thorium fluoride is used as an antireflection material in multilayered optical coatings. Liquid fluoride thorium reactor lftr is an innovative design for the thermal breeder reactor that has important potential benefits over the traditional reactor design. Unlike conventional light water reactor designs, the liquid. Liquid fluoride thorium reactor lftr simply too dangerous. They should not be confused with molten saltcooled high temperature reactors fluoride high. The hanzehogeschool is advised to continue research into this technology. Future is not looking good for thorium nuclear reactors. Molten salt reactors msrs have a long history with the first design studies. A brief history of the liquidfluoride reactor thorium. Thoriumiv fluoride th f 4 is an inorganic chemical compound. Molten salt reactors are generation iv nuclear fission reactors that use. The goal here is to present the basics of a lftr design and the inherent advantages and problems with such a design.