I was under the impression that thorium-salt reactors have been tried in the past and not deemed "worth" from security and profitability point of view.
What has changed about that ?
A Thorium-Salt Reactor Has Fired Up for the First Time in Four Decades
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Re: A Thorium-Salt Reactor Has Fired Up for the First Time in Four Decades
#12I am surprised they are using stainless steel instead of Hastelloy-N http://www.haynesintl.com/alloys/alloy-portfolio_/Corrosion-... The Hastelloy family of super alloys is basically stainless steel without the steel and was proven in the Oak Ridge MSR experiment.
Maybe because of the short duration of the tests? Longer term they may use more exotic compounds?
Re: A Thorium-Salt Reactor Has Fired Up for the First Time in Four Decades
#13I am surprised they are using stainless steel instead of Hastelloy-N http://www.haynesintl.com/alloys/alloy-portfolio_/Corrosion-... The Hastelloy family of super alloys is basically stainless steel without the steel and was proven in the Oak Ridge MSR experiment.
I suspect it would be comparatively more expensive to build it out of proprietary nickel alloy; especially considering this reactor will not be in service long enough for embrittlement to matter.
Re: A Thorium-Salt Reactor Has Fired Up for the First Time in Four Decades
#14A couple of comments;
First it is really awesome to see actual research experiments being done on the materials. This is a critical first step in understanding the underlying complexity of the problems and as the article points out it is really helpful to have a regulatory agency that is open to trying new things.
The second is this isn't a 'Thorium-Salt Reactor' it is 'parts that would go into parts that would make up such a reactor if the experiments indicate they will work.' A much less clickbaitey headline but such is 21st century journalism.
Re: A Thorium-Salt Reactor Has Fired Up for the First Time in Four Decades
#15I was under the impression that thorium-salt reactors have been tried in the past and not deemed "worth" from security and profitability point of view. What has changed about that ?
I thought it was the other way around in fact. That they don't produce nuke-weapon-ready material meant that this avenue was not profitable from a security perspective. I may be recalling this incorrectly and I haven't re-checked but I think that's correct?
Re: A Thorium-Salt Reactor Has Fired Up for the First Time in Four Decades
#16I was under the impression that thorium-salt reactors have been tried in the past and not deemed "worth" from security and profitability point of view. What has changed about that ?
They have different problems that pressured water reactors and are not as applicable to applications that the military would like to use them for. So the government sponsored research labs that were running and experimenting with them stopped doing so when research funds ran out.
Add to the insane risk of investing in anything 'nuclear' and you don't have a lot of available capital. That said, the Chinese who invest in research for other reasons seem to have been working on a number of MSRs which could conceivably advance the state of the art significantly.
Oddly enough, as an American, I am looking forward to the first thing that China builds that "we" American's cannot because we lack expertise and/or technology to do so.
Re: A Thorium-Salt Reactor Has Fired Up for the First Time in Four Decades
#17What's up with this image caption?
"The inside of the Petten test reactor where the thorium salt is being tested is shining due to charged particles traveling faster than the speed of light in water."
As I understand it, nothing travels faster than the speed of light. The author is mistaken, right?
Re: A Thorium-Salt Reactor Has Fired Up for the First Time in Four Decades
#18What's up with this image caption? "The inside of the Petten test reactor where the thorium salt is being tested is shining due to charged particles traveling faster than the speed of light in water." As I understand it, nothing travels faster than the speed of light. The author is mistaken, right?
No, it's correct. The key is the "... in water" part.
Re: A Thorium-Salt Reactor Has Fired Up for the First Time in Four Decades
#19What's up with this image caption? "The inside of the Petten test reactor where the thorium salt is being tested is shining due to charged particles traveling faster than the speed of light in water." As I understand it, nothing travels faster than the speed of light. The author is mistaken, right?
No, it's correct. The key is the "... in water" part.
For details, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherenkov_radiation
Re: A Thorium-Salt Reactor Has Fired Up for the First Time in Four Decades
#20What's up with this image caption? "The inside of the Petten test reactor where the thorium salt is being tested is shining due to charged particles traveling faster than the speed of light in water." As I understand it, nothing travels faster than the speed of light. The author is mistaken, right?
Cherenkov radiation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherenkov_radiation
"Speed of light" seems simple, but is a bit more complicated than that.