China Makes Breakthrough With Thorium Nuclear Reactor

[Kurokage]

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

The US nuclear power structure was heavily invested in uranium and plutonium use for nuclear weapons, and highly enriched nuclear fuels for submarines and aircraft carriers. Thorium research was more of a side quest and not really funded.
As Sabine states in her video, China and India have a lot more thorium and less Uranium without the underlying previous Nuclear tech compared to the west.
I remember a couple of good threads on ATS a while back asking why this wasn't research wasn't taken more serious, it now appears that others have taken the torch!

[quintessentone]

Well I suppose I can't expect free energy but reduced nuclear waste footprint is a second best. 

"China’s Groundbreaking Thorium Discovery: A New Era of 60,000 Years of Limitless Clean Energy"

"The discovery gains geopolitical significance because it dovetails perfectly with the urgent global push for sustainable, non-fossil fuel alternatives. Unlike coal or natural gas, thorium-fuelled reactors emit no greenhouse gases during operation. More strikingly, thorium offers up to 200 times more energy per kilogram than uranium-232, alongside a drastically reduced nuclear waste footprint. This means less environmental hazard, reduced storage concerns, and potentially lower public resistance to nuclear expansion. China’s commitment to advancing molten salt reactor technology, which uses thorium as fuel, further enhances safety by operating at lower pressures and with minimal risks of meltdown, issues that have historically overshadowed nuclear power’s promise."

China’s Groundbreaking Thorium Discovery: A New Era of 60,000 Years of Limitless Clean Energy - Elnion

Who knows, maybe China will develop a small household unit that will cost next to nothing and last a very long time, so as good as being free. Yay China.

[Maxmars]

I have a quandary... A small problem of hesitation...

You see.. this tech and theory is (as the good doctor noted) not new... not really a first.

However the claims of the state scientists are...

In my experience, as much as I care for the people of China... their government does this a lot.

Because of the many times I have experienced Chinese Science media... and discovered that the words and theory are there... but  - never exactly - has made me expect overblown, hyped-up, and occasionally fabricated 'introduction' to their technological development announcements. 

Later, when the source material gets analyzed, many 'promoters' of this kind of reporting (not you)... discover it was ultimately insubstantial... but nevertheless contributed to the 'appearances' of the state's competence in the field... in other words they waste resources 'marketing' their developments as "news."

SO when I might say... "we'll see" I don't really mean I disbelieve the science, or likely even the scientists... I have less faith in the machinery making an announcement like this... 

otherwise...
this tech could be a game changer...
if there was any way people could use it ...
for now it's the stuff of "state operations"...
like a "special" fuel...
for someone to whom you already owe money. 

Hooray...

[Kurokage]

Well I suppose I can't expect free energy but reduced nuclear waste footprint is a second best. 

"China’s Groundbreaking Thorium Discovery: A New Era of 60,000 Years of Limitless Clean Energy"

"The discovery gains geopolitical significance because it dovetails perfectly with the urgent global push for sustainable, non-fossil fuel alternatives. Unlike coal or natural gas, thorium-fuelled reactors emit no greenhouse gases during operation. More strikingly, thorium offers up to 200 times more energy per kilogram than uranium-232, alongside a drastically reduced nuclear waste footprint. This means less environmental hazard, reduced storage concerns, and potentially lower public resistance to nuclear expansion. China’s commitment to advancing molten salt reactor technology, which uses thorium as fuel, further enhances safety by operating at lower pressures and with minimal risks of meltdown, issues that have historically overshadowed nuclear power’s promise."

China’s Groundbreaking Thorium Discovery: A New Era of 60,000 Years of Limitless Clean Energy - Elnion

Who knows, maybe China will develop a small household unit that will cost next to nothing and last a very long time, so as good as being free. Yay China.

I think the western research into thorium reactors was put on the back burner many years back,  I think the Chinese have stollen this and also done their own research on the tech ,and have taken a leap ahead the west.

[Kurokage]

I have a quandary... A small problem of hesitation...

You see.. this tech and theory is (as the good doctor noted) not new... not really a first.

However the claims of the state scientists are...

In my experience, as much as I care for the people of China... their government does this a lot.

Because of the many times I have experienced Chinese Science media... and discovered that the words and theory are there... but  - never exactly - has made me expect overblown, hyped-up, and occasionally fabricated 'introduction' to their technological development announcements. 

Later, when the source material gets analyzed, many 'promoters' of this kind of reporting (not you)... discover it was ultimately insubstantial... but nevertheless contributed to the 'appearances' of the state's competence in the field... in other words they waste resources 'marketing' their developments as "news."

SO when I might say... "we'll see" I don't really mean I disbelieve the science, or likely even the scientists... I have less faith in the machinery making an announcement like this... 

otherwise... this tech could be a game changer... if there was any way people could use it ... for now it's the stuff of "state operations"... like a "special" fuel... for someone to whom you already owe money.  Hooray...

The tech for this is pretty old...

From wiki
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorium-ba...lear_power

Several commercial power-generating reactors were also fueled with thorium-uranium mixed oxides, including Indian Point, Peach Bottom,[sup][15][/sup] and Fort St. Vrain.[sup][16][/sup] Around the same time, the government of the United States built the Molten-Salt Reactor Experiment, a prototype molten salt reactor, using uranium-233 fuel. The MSRE reactor, built at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, operated critical for roughly 15,000 hours from 1965 to 1969 (at a power level somewhat under 8 MWth). In 1968, Glenn Seaborg, the chairman of the AEC, publicly announced that a [sup]233[/sup]U-based reactor had been successfully developed and tested.[sup][17][/sup][sup][18][/sup] For its final year of operation, the reactor was briefly fueled with plutonium fluoride.[sup][18][/sup] The project's leaders also proposed a test run using plutonium fuel, however this was never carried out due to the project's cancellation.[sup][19][/sup]
Despite the project's apparent success, the MSRE was shut down in December 1969 due to pressure from Milton Shaw, the director of the AEC's Reactor Development and Testing Division.[sup][20][/sup] At the time, the US government was heavily interested in breeder reactors to meet the projected need for nuclear fuel.

[Tecate]

I agree with Max, is this actually “State propaganda”, or is this a viable, real alternative to Uranium with a drastically reduced amount of waste, etc.

I hope so as well. It would be fantastic to have cleaner, safer energy sources that can be condensed into small town sized (if not residential) power plants.

I guess we can only wait and see.

Tecate

[andy06shake]

I mean if they can eliminate the issues with complex fuel cycles.

Especially molten salt handling, the corrosion it generates, and the associated Tritium leakage, the technology may indeed become viable. 

Seems to me through, that the safety claims are mostly theoretical, considering they are not operationally proven.

[WallFlowerActive]

What difference does it make.  We got fission 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

[andy06shake]

What difference does it make.  We got fission 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

Thorium reactors are also fission.

They will just use an abundant fuel source, and theoretically produce less long-lived waste.

[WallFlowerActive]

Thorium reactors are also fission.

They will just use an abundant fuel source, and theoretically produce less long-lived waste.

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