China Makes Breakthrough With Thorium Nuclear Reactor

[WallFlowerActive]

Well it looks China is about to leap frog the west on research into thorium reactors.

And yet..

China’s construction of new coal-power plants ‘reached 10-year high’ in 2024
A “resurgence” in construction of new coal-fired power plants in China is “undermining the country’s clean-energy progress”, says a new joint report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) and Global Energy Monitor(GEM).
The country began building 94.5 gigawatts (GW) of new coal-power capacity and resumed 3.3GW of suspended projects in 2024, the highest level of construction in the past 10 years, according to the two thinktanks. 
The accelerated buildout, fuelled by investment from the coal-mining sector, “raises critical concerns” about China’s ability to transition away from the fossil fuel, the report warns. 
Analysts expect China’s huge clean-energy capacity additions to slowly squeeze coal’s share of electricity generation, as China works towards its “dual-carbon” goals of peaking carbon emissions by 2030 and reaching carbon neutrality by 2060.   
As things stand, rapid coal-power expansion is posing a “challenge” to China’s high-level climate commitments, including on reducing coal use, CREA and GEM argue.

https://www.carbonbrief.org/chinas-const...h-in-2024/

No leapfrog of actual dependency on clean fuels.  Makes you wonder what China is actually up to?

[andy06shake]

Sorry.  Ment fusion.

What difference does it make.  We got fusion right?  People get excited about that too.  

Or we just have combating stories and propaganda.

Or is China using a red herring to cover up something or try to send western scientists into a rabbit hole.

lol

We wish.

Fusion is always 10-50 years on the horizon.

Material science and control are the main hurdles.

It will materialise at some point.

Like others have suggested.

China makes a lot of half-decent bold claims, but never quite seems to produce the goods on order imho.

[Maxmars]

I think the principle reason we are technologically committed to Uranium is greed.

The entire infrastructure would require retooling to accommodate a true "upgrade" in our beloved "Energy Industry"... that means shrinking the revenue stream, and either 'casting away' cozy Big Energy economic tie associated with the universe of for-profit activities adjacent to the "nuclear" industry.

Although none of the money is "technically theirs" to withhold... they are, they have been, and they will continue to do so to retain the Big Energy apex... monopoly.

Amidst that pressure... they don't "want," so proclaim not to "need," Thorium.

That "profit-first" aversion to ""self-investment"...
is failing to support actual technological improvements...
but the marketing says we owe them everything, doesn't it?

Exploit the "now"... and plan to do so tomorrow... later... after today.
The rest is externality.

Hell, they even hint of war over their precious... 9-times rarer Uranium fuel...
To the Big industry, and it's deeply entrenched parasitic adjuncts... thorium is anathema.

Marketing will now "ensue."

"Thorium causes skin rot!" or "Only commies use Thorium." or maybe "Make Uranium Great Again!"

Big energy is part of a clockwork control group... change must be theirs to implement... or they get insecure and aggressive.

[sahgwa]

Made me look up this

2021

https://theconversation.com/the-us-army-...ell-164138

"Nearly 60 years after the PM-2A was installed and the ML-1 project abandoned, the U.S. military is exploring portable land-based nuclear reactors again.In May 2021, the Pentagon requested $60 million for Project Pele. Its goal: Design and build, within five years, a small, truck-mounted portable nuclear reactor that could be flown to remote locations and war zones. It would be able to be powered up and down for transport within a few days. " 

2026 May is the deadline. 

2025
https://thedefensepost.com/2025/08/13/us...r-reactor/

"
California-based power generation company Radiant has signed an agreement to provide a mass-produced nuclear microreactor for a US military installation under the Advanced Nuclear Power for Installations (ANPI) program.
ANPI, a collaboration between the Defense Innovation Unit and the US Air Force, is an ongoing effort to deploy portable nuclear energy for base resilience and operational security. 
...
Radiant’s Kaleidos runs on TRISO fuel or ceramic-coated uranium particles that are effectively meltdown-proof, with helium gas for cooling, a combination that eliminates water requirements and reduces contamination risks.
Inside the platform, graphite blocks with a zinc-hydride moderator form the reactor core, while a supercritical carbon dioxide Brayton cycle efficiently converts heat into electricity.
For safety, Kaleidos features passive air-jacket cooling that draws heat away naturally, even in emergencies. The system can shut down and cool itself in just 300 milliseconds.
A single unit of the microreactor runs for five years before the sealed container is returned for refueling. Over its 20-year lifespan, it can be refueled four times, leaving no waste or infrastructure behind.
Radiant plans for hundreds of Kaleidos units to operate autonomously, each monitored through a centralized 24/7 control network."



https://www.energy.gov/ne/demonstration-...ments-dome
"DOE made conditional selections for the first tests in DOME on July 1, 2025. Both companies are expected to meet certain milestones throughout the process to maintain their allotted time in DOME and to ensure efficient use of the test bed. Testing will start as early as spring 2026. 

• Radiant (El Segundo, CA) - Kaleidos Development Unit  
  
• Westinghouse (Etna, PA) - eVinci Nuclear Test Reactor "
  

[Good Bacteria]

I don't believe any of their 'advancements'. They are charlatans of the highest order and can, and will, fake it all just to stay ahead in industries they can't possibly compete in. 

'If you can cheat, then cheat'. - Chinese life motto 

I absolutely love their announcements and especially the military equipment parades full of Lego vehicles and ray guns. Laughing is always the best medicine. They march well, but that's a HUGE coating of varnish as well.

[WallFlowerActive]

China makes a lot of half-decent bold claims, but never quite seems to produce the goods on order imho.

While remaining one of the largest emitters of mercury.

[andy06shake]

While remaining one of the largest emitters of mercury.

India being a close second.

And a lot of that has to do with coal-fired power plants and metal production.

[Maxmars]

Giant industry has always sacrificed 'health,' 'safety,' and 'externality' in exchange for a fat revenue stream...

... and "everybody" is hopping on board.

Banks call it "economic growth"... ain't it fun?

[quintessentone]

I think the principle reason we are technologically committed to Uranium is greed.

The entire infrastructure would require retooling to accommodate a true "upgrade" in our beloved "Energy Industry"... that means shrinking the revenue stream, and either 'casting away' cozy Big Energy economic tie associated with the universe of for-profit activities adjacent to the "nuclear" industry.

Although none of the money is "technically theirs" to withhold... they are, they have been, and they will continue to do so to retain the Big Energy apex... monopoly.

Amidst that pressure... they don't "want," so proclaim not to "need," Thorium.

That "profit-first" aversion to ""self-investment"...
is failing to support actual technological improvements...
but the marketing says we owe them everything, doesn't it?

Exploit the "now"... and plan to do so tomorrow... later... after today.
The rest is externality.

Hell, they even hint of war over their precious... 9-times rarer Uranium fuel...
To the Big industry, and it's deeply entrenched parasitic adjuncts... thorium is anathema.

Marketing will now "ensue."

"Thorium causes skin rot!" or "Only commies use Thorium." or maybe "Make Uranium Great Again!"

Big energy is part of a clockwork control group... change must be theirs to implement... or they get insecure and aggressive.

Greed? BINGO!

These elitists have to keep attached to the money making fossil fuel and uranium because the infrastructure is there and would cost too much to changeover and it keeps them in power.

But China is not The West, they seem to leap frog into advancements that they deem will make them richer, so, yeah, greed again.

All I want is an alternative source of energy for my home and electric car that I can simply plug everything in to and get cheap reliable power.

[EXETER]

I think the principle reason we are technologically committed to Uranium is greed.
......

Nope.  The principle reason we are technologically committed to Uranium is because we were the first nation to establish a nuclear weapons program. That required us to make a big investment in Uranium enrichment--which we did with the Oak Ridge facility in Tennessee during the Manhattan Project in WWII.  Once we had the enrichment capability, that made it possible to make smaller reactors with enriched fuel, all the way down to Nuclear Submarine reactors the size of a large garbage can.  The Atomic Energy Commission considered whether the US should go with Thorium reactors for civilian use (some time in the 1960s, as I recall) and decided that it was more cost-effective to stay with enriched Uranium, since we already had the infrastructure to do that. Other nations like Canada, for example, decided to go with non-enriched Uranium, which requires special moderators, like heavy water.  So they developed their CANDU reactors so that they would not have to invest in Uranium enrichment.

Edward Teller was a senior advisor to the Atomic Energy Commission when that decision was made and later in life he became convinced they made the wrong choice.  That's when he became a strong advocate for Thorium-based fission reactors along the lines of what the Chinese just demonstrated.  As the Chinese pointed out, they got most of their design data for their Thorium reactor from the US after it was declassified by the AEC.  

Bill Gates is a strong advocate for Thorium reactors and was willing to fund a demonstration unit in the US, but eventually decided that the licensing and permitting process was much too cumbersome and that China was a better bet.