Funding for thorium molten salt and other advanced nuclear reactors

Flibe Energy has teamed with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to examine the use of nitrogen trifluoride as an agent to remove uranium from a molten-salt fuel mixture as a preliminary step for the removal of fission products. They will look at fluorination of Lithium Fluoride-Beryllium Fluoride. The US Department of energy will provide $2,101,982 of funding. There is $525,500 of non-DOE funding.

Flibe Energy has taken the 1960’s Oak Ridge molten salt reactor work and enhanced the design into the liquid-fluoride thorium reactor (LFTR). LFTR is a molten-salt reactor design that can utilize thorium more effectively and efficiently than ever before. Thorium becomes Earth’s most abundant stored energy resource when used in the LFTR.

The salts used in the LFTR are combinations of lithium fluoride and beryllium fluoride (LiF-BeF2) salts often called “F-Li-Be.” Unlike current materials used in nuclear reactors, liquid FLiBe is impervious to radiation damage and incredibly chemically stable. FLiBe can hold enormous amounts of thermal energy safely and at low pressures yet at high temperatures, helping FliBe Energy finally realize the dream of a compact, affordable power system that can be mass-produced to meet the world’s needs for power and other essential materials.

Holtec laser arc welding funded for $12.6 million

Holtec International (Camden, NJ) will advance hybrid laser arc welding for use in fabrication of small modular reactors and other nuclear components to achieve improvements in the reliability, quality and cost associated with traditional multi-pass welding.

NuScale got $14 million in funding

NuScale got $14million to develop a First-of-a-Kind (FOAK) prototype. NuScale plans to have a first plant operational in the mid-2020s. NuScale has designed an extraordinarily safe modular Integral Pressurized Water Reactors (IPWR). The new gross-output of a 12 module NuScale power plant will be 720 MWe.

$500K for lead bismuth reactor design

Columbia Basin Consulting Group (Kennewick, WA) aims to develop a pre-conceptual design and preliminary cost estimate for a lead-bismuth small modular reactor. They received $500,000 in funding.

10 thoughts on “Funding for thorium molten salt and other advanced nuclear reactors”

  1. I saw that NuScale plans to have an operational plant in the mid 2020s. Just curious, why so long? Any way to expedite this or is there a lot of red tape and bureaucracy?

  2. I saw that NuScale plans to have an operational plant in the mid 2020s. Just curious why so long? Any way to expedite this or is there a lot of red tape and bureaucracy?

  3. Being licensed to NUREG-0800 and being fully designed are two separate things. Right now the specifications are being licensed; the detailed design will follow. Simulations show that if part X meets specification Y, then transient Z will be survivable. Now go design part X so that it meets specification Y. Design is developed enough to expect that all named components can be sourced/procured.

  4. Its mostly all red tape and bureaucracy. The NRC has to license them to build the reactor. Which involves them going through the entire design. Once that is done then they can begin construction, which will take another couple of years.

  5. Being licensed to NUREG-0800 and being fully designed are two separate things. Right now the specifications are being licensed; the detailed design will follow.Simulations show that if part X meets specification Y then transient Z will be survivable. Now go design part X so that it meets specification Y. Design is developed enough to expect that all named components can be sourced/procured.

  6. Its mostly all red tape and bureaucracy. The NRC has to license them to build the reactor. Which involves them going through the entire design. Once that is done then they can begin construction which will take another couple of years.

  7. Being licensed to NUREG-0800 and being fully designed are two separate things. Right now the specifications are being licensed; the detailed design will follow.

    Simulations show that if part X meets specification Y, then transient Z will be survivable. Now go design part X so that it meets specification Y.

    Design is developed enough to expect that all named components can be sourced/procured.

  8. Its mostly all red tape and bureaucracy. The NRC has to license them to build the reactor. Which involves them going through the entire design. Once that is done then they can begin construction, which will take another couple of years.

  9. I saw that NuScale plans to have an operational plant in the mid 2020s. Just curious, why so long? Any way to expedite this or is there a lot of red tape and bureaucracy?

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