First Critical Experiment on Thorium Molten Salt Reactors to be Held in Europe
Denmark’s Copenhagen Atomics will cooperate with Switzerland’s Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) to conduct the first critical experiment on thorium molten salt reactors in Europe.
Molten salt reactors use molten fluoride salts as primary coolant at low pressure. They may operate with epithermal or fast neutron spectrums and with a variety of fuels.
Copenhagen Atomics is developing a containerized molten salt reactor with an output of 100 MW: moderated with unpressurised heavy water, the reactor consumes nuclear waste while breeding new fuel from thorium.
The purpose of this experiment is to validate the technology and provide valuable experience for the collaboration partners in the design, construction, licensing, operation and decommissioning of the new molten salt reactor technology, as well as to collect data for commercial deployment, and with open source data for validation of reactor modelling tools.
Copenhagen Atomics said it is already producing and testing full-scale test reactor prototypes at its headquarters along with dozens of smaller-scale loop tests and salt production.
The company’s molten salt reactors use lithium, thorium and low-enriched uranium fluoride salt as the reactor fuel and can be factory manufactured in modules the size of a 12 meters shipping container.