{"id":176038,"date":"2024-07-31T16:04:55","date_gmt":"2024-07-31T20:04:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inspenet.com\/noticias\/thorium-and-molten-salt-nuclear-power-plant\/"},"modified":"2024-07-31T16:37:53","modified_gmt":"2024-07-31T20:37:53","slug":"thorium-and-molten-salt-nuclear-power-plant","status":"publish","type":"noticias","link":"https:\/\/inspenet.com\/en\/news\/thorium-and-molten-salt-nuclear-power-plant\/","title":{"rendered":"China starts construction of first thorium and molten salt nuclear power plant"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

China announces its energy transition steps with the construction of the first thorium and molten salt-based nuclear power plant<\/strong>.\nUnlike nuclear power plants, this system does not require water to cool the core, allowing for a more compact and simplified design.\nIn addition, this reactor has the advantage of being virtually accident-proof. <\/p>\n\n

The thorium and molten salt nuclear power plant<\/h2>\n\n

The South China Morning Post<\/a><\/strong> reported that this plant, which will be located in the Gobi desert, will be operational in 2029 and will have a maximum heat generation capacity of 60 megawatts.\nThe Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics<\/strong>, part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, will be responsible for both the construction and operation of this modular power plant. <\/p>\n\n

This project will contribute to China’s energy independence, while boosting the development of new technologies in high-end materials and equipment, according to a report by theShanghai Nuclear Engineering Research and Design Institute<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n

Nuclear reactor operation<\/h2>\n\n

The idea of using molten salt in nuclear fission reactors<\/strong> is not a new technology.\nIn fact, scientists have been exploring this development since the 1950s.\nThe first prototype was tested in the United States in the 1960s, using salt as a coolant, allowing the reactor to operate at pressures close to atmospheric, rather than the high pressures required by uranium reactors. <\/p>\n\n

In the case of the Chinese design, it implements thorium as the fuel, which is mixed with molten salt to flow through the reactor.\nThis process generates a nuclear chain reaction that produces heat<\/strong>, which is transferred to an external steam generator before returning to the reactor to continue the cycle.\nIn addition, the molten salt has a high melting point<\/strong>, allowing it to solidify quickly and prevent the release of radioactive waste on site. <\/p>\n\n

Moreover, the system includes a second layer of safety<\/strong>.\nIn the event of a leak, the molten salt would be deposited in a subway container designed to prevent the dispersion of radioactive materials.\nThe choice of thorium as a fuel is strategic for China, because this material is abundant in the country, unlike uranium. <\/p>\n\n

New approaches and horizons for Nuclear Energy<\/h2>\n\n

Currently, the world’s only operating thorium reactor<\/strong> is also located in the Gobi Desert, about 120 km northwest of the city of Wuwei.\nThis experimental reactor, which achieved a sustainable nuclear reaction last October, has a capacity of only 2 MW of thermal power and does not generate electricity.\nHowever, the new reactor is designed to go much further and contribute to the country’s energy development. <\/p>\n\n

The location of the new plant will include multiple energy sources, such as a wind farm<\/em>, a solar power plant<\/em>, a molten salt energy storage plant<\/em> and a chemical production base<\/em>, as an ideal location strategy.<\/p>\n\n

The thermal energy produced by the reactor will be used to generate electricity and produce hydrogen by splitting water molecules at high temperature.\nThese various energy sources will be integrated into a smart grid designed to provide low-cost, low-carbon electricity for industrial production. <\/p>\n\n

This Chinese thorium reactor will compete to be the first in the world to go into operation, facing the project of Bill Gates and his company TerraPower<\/a><\/strong>in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy.\nConstruction of this other reactor, located in Kemmerer, Wyoming, began last month and is expected to be ready in 2030. <\/p>\n\n

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Source:<\/strong> Interesting Engineering<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Photo: Shutterstock<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The large Asian country has thorium reserves that could meet its energy needs for the next 20,000 years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8404,"featured_media":176007,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categoria_noticias":[13026,13044],"etiqueta_noticias":[],"class_list":["post-176038","noticias","type-noticias","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","categoria_noticias-energy","categoria_noticias-new-energies"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inspenet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/noticias\/176038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inspenet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/noticias"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inspenet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/noticias"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inspenet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8404"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inspenet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176038"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inspenet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/noticias\/176038\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inspenet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/176007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inspenet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"categoria_noticias","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inspenet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categoria_noticias?post=176038"},{"taxonomy":"etiqueta_noticias","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inspenet.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/etiqueta_noticias?post=176038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}