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China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment gave the green light to the Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics (SINAP) on August 2 to commission the 2 MW thorium-based molten salt experimental reactor (TMSR-LF1) at Hongshagang Mall, Wuwei City, Gansu. Provincia. Si successful, TMSR-LF1 can pave the way for the progression and structure of a larger demonstration facility until 2030, as well as the structure of a TMSR fuel salt batch pyroprocess demonstration facility for thorium-uranium cycle use through the early 2040s.
TMSR-LF1 is a proof-of-concept liquid thorium fluoride reactor using a combustible salt (LiF-BeF 2-ZrF four-UF four [ThF four]) and a heat transfer salt (LiF-BeF 2). Powered by an aggregate of thorium and uranium-235 (enriched to 19. 75% by weight), it is designed to operate at a maximum operating temperature of 650°C for a service life of 10 years. reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (Figure Four). SINAP documents recommend that the objective of the experiment is to verify pyrotreatment, refueling and continuous refueling; investigate the stability and security of the operation; and checking a thorium-uranium fuel cycle.
Since 2013, China has had the allocation as an “important national allocation for science structure and generation infrastructure. “Documents shared through SINAP with the International Generation IV Forum recommend that the pilot allocation be part of larger plans to expand small modular closed-loop thorium fuel TMSRs for nuclear heat applications. Along with the TMSR-LF liquid fuel, sinap has also begun to expand an MSR FORGED FUEL (TMSR-SF) that uses TRISO (TRi structural isotropic component fuel) in pebbles or prisms/blocks with a one-step fuel cycle. However, progress on this front is unclear.
While the existing effort stems from a program introduced through the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2011, SINAP has had ambitions to build a TMSR since 1970. One of the main reasons is that since MSRs rely on molten salts as a heat transfer medium, they are not water-dependent and would possibly be suitable for arid spaces such as the Gobi Desert. For China, the progression of a thorium-based fuel cycle is also of interest because of its many benefits, adding security, relief from proliferation threats and waste. administration.
Thorium (Th) is more abundant in nature than uranium (U), but it is “fertile than fissionable, and can only be used as fuel in conjunction with fissionable curtains such as recycled plutonium,” the World Nuclear Association (WNA) explained. And while employing thorium “as a new number one energy source has been a tempting prospect for many years,” extracting its latent energy price profitably has been difficult, the organization said.
The TMSR-LF design “calls for a fully enclosed Th-U fuel cycle with a replica of the U-233 and much greater durability but greater technical difficulty,” the WNA added. “SINAP considers molten salt fuel to be amazing for TRISO fuel in terms of unlimited combustion, less waste and lower production cost, but achieves lower temperatures [600°C] than TRISO fuel reactors [1200°C],” he said. Short-term targets include nuclear-grade ThF4 and ThO2 and test them on an MSR.
Media reports that TMSR-LF1 testing will begin in batches with inline refueling and removal of gaseous fission products. It reports that the allocation will discharge all fuel salts after five to eight years for reprocessing and separation of fission products and minor actinides for storage. It will also “carry out a continuous salt, uranium and thorium recycling procedure, with in-line separation of fission products and minor actinides. The reactor will go from 20% thorium fission to 80%”, World Nuclear News. informed.
If commissioned effectively, the TMSR-LF1 assignment will become one of the world’s first operational MSR reactors in decades. The immediate progress of the assignment is remarkable. After the Ministry of Ecology and Environment accepted the institute’s request to begin initial paintings at TMSR as study reactors in 2015, it settled on the Hongshagang site in December 2018. Ministry documents recommend that the experimental assignment come with reactor facilities, a radioactive reactor waste treatment center, a protective control center and a “complete experimentation corridor and chemical storage. “
The ministry approved an environmental impact report for the allocation in December 2019, and issued a structure permit for TMSR-LF1 shortly thereafter, in January 2020. China’s National Nuclear Security Administration and the ministry reportedly monitored the quality of the structure. Although the ministry granted approval in August to begin commissioning, it suggested SINAP “strictly apply” a start-up scheme “to ensure the effectiveness of the implementation of the scheme and ensure the protection and quality of purification. “On August 11, the ministry also approved a quality assurance program for the allocation.
—Sonal Patel is editor of POWER (@sonalcpatel, @POWERmagazine).
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