May 25, 2016 for educational purposes only dartmouth college, may 2016. Thorium reactor liquid fluoride thorium reactor lftr. Download pdf molten salt reactors and thorium energy. The goal here is to present the basics of a lftr design and the inherent advantages and problems with such a design. Lftr has no chance of nuclear meltdown molten salt. Molten salt reactors, aqueous homogeneous reactors, fluoride reactors, chloride reactors, liquid metal reactors and why liquid fission james a. The idea is to design a critical reactor able to burn the plutonium and the minor actinides presently produced in pwrs, and. Alternatively, sign the epetition on the hm government website. Pdf current development in thorium fueled reactors shows that they can be designed to operate in the fast or.
Liquid fluoride thorium reactor lftr is one of the generationiv nuclear reactors, that was derived from the molten salt reactor msr concept developed in 1946 by the oak ridge national laboratory ornl. A molten salt reactor msr is a class of nuclear fission reactor in which the primary nuclear reactor coolant andor the fuel is a molten salt mixture. Liquid fluoride thorium reactors were created 50 years ago by an american chap named alvin weinberg, but the american government realised. Oct 18, 2014 a liquid fluoride thorium reactor lftr is the optimal approach for harvesting energy from thorium, and has the potential to solve todays energyclimate crisis. But does thorium really represent nuclear innovation. Moltensaltfueled reactors msrs supply the nuclear fuel in the form of a molten salt mixture. Fluorine is a very dangerous gas to have about, esepcially in accident conditions. It is generally considered inherently safer, cleaner and. This claim, although made in the report from the house of lords, has no basis in fact. Liquid fluoride thorium reactors an old idea in nuclear power gets reexamined robert hargraves and ralph moir robert hargraves teaches energy policy at the institute for lifelong education at dartmouth college. When people started to do research in the field of nuclear energy in the midnineties, the molten salt reactors were soon invented.
Maybe we can have them become interested in molten salt reactors such as liquid fluoride thorium reactor to provide power all the time, or all the time solarwind are not generating enough, replacing coal and oil. Liquid fluoride thorium reactor lftr public group facebook. George 1 gigawatthr per hour, or 1 gigawattyear per year. Kirk sorensen explains how the nuclear energy fuel thorium could replace coal to meet our energy needs link to this video. Thorium is at minimum 3 times more abundant in the earths crust. If you have not been tracking the latest thorium hype, you might be interested to learn that the benefits liquid fluoride. Molten salt reactors msr use graphite as moderator, molten fluoride salt of high.
The first fuel was a highenriched 33% u235 uranium dissolved as uf4 in a. Kirk sorensen presented an introduction to flibe energy at the thorium energy conference 2011 55 pages flibe energy will initially design, develop and demonstrate a small modular liquid fluoride thorium reactor smlftr for the us military. The lftr is a type of thorium molten salt reactor tmsr. Desired first demonstration at a military site to be determined. Thorium is usually thrown away during the process of mining rareearth metals. Pdf liquidfluoride thorium reactor development strategy.
Liquid fuel molten salt reactors for thorium utilization. Abundant thorium as an alternative nuclear fuel mit. Flibe energy liquid flouride thorium reactor company. To a limited group of technophiles and nuclear technology enthusiasts, thorium has become a unicorn. Liquid fluoride thorium reactor lftr has 3,776 members. One of the critical issues for the fluoride saltcooled hightemperature reactor fhr is to acquire comprehensive knowledge of the fluoride salt coolant properties and their uncertainties in order to ensure reactor designs perform as expected. Liquid fluoride reactors lftrs exposing the truth about. Fast thorium molten salt reactors started with plutonium e. Who killed the liquid fluoride thorium reactor lftr.
The liquid fluoride thorium reactor is a type of molten salt reactor. Liquid fluoride thorium reactor lftr is an innovative design for the thermal breeder reactor that has important potential benefits over the traditional reactor design. The liquid flouride thorium reactor lftr solution youtube. Rarick2 and rajmohan rangarajan3 cleveland state university, cleveland, ohio 44115 an overall system analysis approach is used to propose potential conceptual designs of. I cant remember the last time i stood in a room full of people concerned about. Liquid fluoride thorium reactors an old idea in nuclear power gets reexamined robert hargraves and ralph moir what if we could turn back the clock to 1965 and have an energy doover. Molten salt reactors incl liquid fluoride thorium reactor. Because a lftr is inherently stable and the liquid fuels can be readily drained from the reactor core, a meltdown is physically impossible. Traditionally, in lwr, water had to cool down the solid fuel since it couldnt handle the high temperatures because of high pressure, which had always been a fine line behind meltdowns sorensen, 2011. Pdf advantages of liquid fluoride thorium reactor in comparison. Note that a logical source for the neutron required for absorption is a power producing fission reactor with the fertile thorium 232 contained in an.
Lftrs use the thorium fuel cycle with a fluoridebased, molten, liquid salt for fuel. Each and every one has its own advantages and compromises. Synthesis of thorium tetrafluoride thf4 by ammonium. Liquid fluoride thorium reactors lftrs can act as breeders, producing as much fuel as they consume. Liquidfluoride thorium reactor development strategy. Highlevel waste is an unavoidable product of nuclear fission.
Now what with ryan duffy covers some of the innovative things people are doing about some of the worlds largest problems. Main purpose of the nuclear reactor is to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Advantages of liquid fluoride thorium reactor in comparison. Thorium lftr a large quantity of melted material at circa 700 oc would exist in such apparatus when in operation, especially if there is a surrounding blanket region for transmuting thorium to fissile uranium 233 wherein u233 is extractable via use of fluorine gas. Molten salt reactors, aqueous homogeneous reactors, fluoride reactors, chloride reactors, liquid metal reactors and why liquid fission kindle edition by lane, james a. As fission radioactive decay occurs, heat is released and free neutrons start changing more thorium into uranium233. Jan 17, 2012 is the 1 gigawatt reactor produce 1 gigawatt a day or 1 gig watt a year. Reports related to homogenous core fluid fluoride reactors ffrs of type mosel. Robert hargraves and ralph moir molten salt reactors. The nuclear reaction indicated by step 1 shows, that a neutron absorbed by thorium232 will bring about a transmutation to a new isotope, namely thorium233 and emission of a gamma photon. The first fuel was a highenriched 33% u235 uranium dissolved as uf4 in a lifbef2zrf4 salt.
The liquid fluoride thorium reactor lftr is a thermal breeder. There is a viable option to replace current nuclear technology. Should we consider using liquid fluoride thorium reactors for. Most common nuclear reactors are light water reactors lwr, that are based on the uranium fuel cycle and use an enriched uranium fuel 4% of u235 as a. Modular construction of nuclear reactors in a factory environment has become increasingly desirable to reduce uncertainties about costs and quality. In general, use of thorium based fuel in light water reactors is possible, but not so promising. Thus, this paper seeks to critically examine these claims and exhaustively analyze the differences between thorium plants in particular liquid fluoride thorium reactors, or lftrs and traditional uranium plants. Apr 29, 2015 liquid fluoride thorium reactor lftr is an innovative design for the thermal breeder reactor that has important potential benefits over the traditional reactor design.
A nuclear reactor with passive safety benefits, that ran on an abundant material safe enough to hold in your hand, and that generated 1100th the waste of pressurizedwater reactors ran successfully for three years at. Its objectives for modular reactor design and its plans for manufacturing and deployment of these reactors will be described. High efficiency nuclear power plants using liquid fluoride thorium reactor technology albert j. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Berzelium, carolinium, comptonbelkovich thorium anomaly, flibe energy, ionium thorium dating, isotopes of thorium, liquid fluoride thorium reactor, sylvania electric products explosion, thorium based nuclear power, thorium fuel cycle, thorotrast. Should we consider using liquid fluoride thorium reactors. Thorium is weakly radioactive, has a high melting point, and is available with more abundance than uranium as an element.
I would like to have some idea of how the system would react to such changes in nuclear geometry. Fast thorium molten salt reactors started with plutonium. As only two liquid core fluoride salt reactors have been built the ornl are and msre and neither have used thorium, it is hard to validate the exact benefits. Is thorium the fuel of the future to revitalize nuclear. Thorium fuel cycle iaea scientific and technical publications.
Fluoride thorium reactors lftr replace their popular use, becoming the prevalent method used. Heat from the reactor is transferred to another loop of molten salt not containing nuclear materials. In a typical design, the liquid is pumped between a critical core and an external heat exchanger where the heat is transferred to a nonradioactive secondary salt. Provision for those who lack the social and economic advantages of electricity is now an important objective of the united nations. Introduction of thorium in the nuclear fuel cycle nuclear energy. Liquid fluoride thorium reactor lftr simply too dangerous thats why it was stopped. A subsequent decision was made by the usaec to terminate work on liquid fluoride reactors for budgetary reasons. Aug 08, 2011 i have no qualms in trying to campaign for uk manufacture of lftrs and if any of you feel so inclined, make it happen here by voting on 38degrees, the campaigning website and search for uk manufacture of liquid fluoride thorium reactors. Then you can start reading kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer no kindle device required. Nuclear power generation is under intense scrutiny due to the recent japanese disaster.
Lftr is fluoride based liquid fuel, that use the thorium dissolved in salt mixture of lithium fluoride and beryllium fluoride. Lftrs are an example of both generation iv reactors in other words, future nuclear reactors which prioritise safety and reduction of waste products but which are still in the designexperimental phase and molten salt reactors. Liquid fluoride thorium reactor page 3 physics forums. More on why we need the liquid fluoride thorium reactor. Liquid fluoride thorium reactors lftrs over pressurised. Update on the liquid fluoride thorium reactor projects in.
In general, a nuclear reactor is a key device of nuclear power plants, nuclear research facilities or nuclear propelled ships. For both configurations the gas turbine working fluid is helium he. It is fueled by the uranium233 isotope that is taken from the element thorium. Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from wikipedia or other free sources online. Important thorium reactor configurations include molten salt, candu, and triso systems. Note that a logical source for the neutron required for absorption is a power producing fission reactor with the fertile thorium232 contained in an. In a msr, the nuclear fuel, the so called fissile isotope, is. Advantages of liquid fluoride thorium reactor in comparison with light water reactor conference paper pdf available november 2014 with 1,333 reads how we measure reads. Liquidfluoride reactors, with their lowpressure reactor vessels, are particularly suitable to modular construction. Much of their work culminated with the moltensalt reactor experiment msre. Fluoride salt coolant properties for nuclear reactor. Molten salt reactors msrs papers, books, and reports. Future is not looking good for thorium nuclear reactors. Thorium and uranium233 are dissolved in molten lithium fluoride salt in the reactor.
In june of that year, the mol ten salt reactor experiment msre achieved criticality for the first time at oak ridge national laboratory ornl in tennessee. Our particular emphasis is on the liquid fluoride thorium reactor lftr. Economics of liquid fluoride thorium reactors molten salt. Liquid fluoride thorium reactors are seen as the future of energy. Ralph moir has published 10 papers on moltensalt reactors during. Flibe energy has worked to advance the technology for liquid fluoride thorium reactors lftrs since its incorporation in april 2011. The lftr is unique, having a hot liquid core thus eliminating fuel fabrication costs and the. The liquid fluoride thorium reactor lftr is a promising, innovative reactor design that uses liquid instead of solid fuel, and thorium instead of uranium, giving it considerable benefits over traditional uraniumfuelled light water reactors lwrs. Second, as we pointed out last year in a long read on thoriumsalt reactors, designs that call for using it in a liquid form are, essentially, selfregulating and failsafe. A significant undertaking was the formulation of detailed plans for the development of liquidfluoride thorium reactors and the preparation of ornl5018. Since the carrier of thorium is a liquid, liquid fluoride, it allows standard pressure at igh temperatures. A thorium reactor is a form of nuclear energy, proposed for use as a molten salt reactor. Can use lftrs to consume nuclear waste molten salt.
Enter your mobile number or email address below and well send you a link to download the free kindle app. The nuclear reaction indicated by step 1 shows, that a neutron absorbed by thorium 232 will bring about a transmutation to a new isotope, namely thorium 233 and emission of a gamma photon. High efficiency nuclear power plants using liquid fluoride. Advantages of liquid fluoride thorium reactor in comparison with light water reactor. The concept is simple, yet thoroughly investigated. In a conventional pwr the fuel pellets contain uo 2 with fissile u235 content expensively enriched to 3. Msrs offer multiple advantages over conventional nuclear power plants, although for historical reasons further explanation needed, they have not been deployed the concept was first established in the 1950s. Gram per gram, thorium is much more efficient than uranium, as around 99% of it is used in the reaction. Lftrs use the thorium fuel cycle with a fluoride based, molten, liquid salt for fuel. A liquid fluoride thorium reactor lftr is a type of molten salt reactor msr that can use inexpensive thorium for fuel thorium becomes uranium inside the reactor. Current nuclear reactor technology is using only 0. Second, as we pointed out last year in a long read on thorium salt reactors, designs that call for using it in a liquid form are, essentially, selfregulating and failsafe.
World resources of thorium would last for some thousands of years, making it a truly sustainable form of energy. They should not be confused with molten saltcooled high temperature reactors fluoride hightemperature. Molten salt reactors, including liquid fluoride thorium reactors kindle edition by. Lftrs use the thorium fuel cycle with a fluoridebased, molten. Reactors containing molten thorium salt are called liquid fluoride thorium reactors lftr. A watt is defined as one joule per second and can be used to express the rate of energy conversion or transfer with respect to time wikipedia.
This series will explore the pros and cons of various energy sources learn about other forms of energy generation here last august, i posted an article on thorium reactors, a form of nuclear power that supposedly overcomes many of the concerns. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading fluid fuel. Oak ridge national laboratory ornl took the lead in researching msrs through the 1960s. Liquid fluoride reactors, with their lowpressure reactor vessels, are particularly suitable to modular construction in a factory and delivery to a power generation site. Nuclear programs across the world are reevaluating regarding their future power source citing valid safety concerns. A lftr is a type of molten salt reactor, significantly safer than a typical. Juhaszl nasa glenn research center, cleveland, ohio 445 richard a. Parliamentary events are often dull affairs, but thursday nights launch of the weinberg foundation a new pressure group advocating thorium nuclear energy was quite the opposite. Aug 08, 2011 in a large pool of thorium fluoride gradually transmuting to u233, it seems at least possible for gradients to form with potentially quite different fuel concentrations and compositions. Back in the 1950s and 1960s, the scientists at oak ridge national laboratory in the usa developed the molten salt reactor design a liquid salt fueled and cooled nuclear reactor system. Liquid fluoride thorium reactor page 4 physics forums. Liquid fluoride thorium reactors generate no highlevel waste material. Download pdf molten salt reactors and thorium energy free.
There is thus a need to look beyond traditional light water reactors lwr that can address these problems. Liquid fluoride thorium reactor lftr simply too dangerous. Advocates for liquid core and molten salt reactors such as lftrs claim that these technologies negate thorium s disadvantages present in solid fuelled reactors. Thorium reactors supplying local minigrids could provide for this need.
Lftrs use the thorium fuel cycle with a fluoridebased, molten, liquid salt for fuel moltensaltfueled reactors msrs supply the nuclear fuel in the form of a molten salt mixture. Liquid fluoride thorium reactor thorium nuclear energy. The tablesofcontents from all of these reports are available in a single, compact pdf document. Kirk sorensen presented an introduction to flibe energy at the thorium energy conference 2011 55 pages flibe energy will initially design, develop and demonstrate a small modular liquidfluoride thorium reactor smlftr for the us military. Jul 18, 2012 lftr stands for liquid fluoride thorium reactor. In january 1974, the usaec program for liquid fluoride reactor development was reinstated. Perhaps these technical problems can be overcome, but why would anyone bother to try, knowing in advance that the msr plant will be uneconomic due to huge construction costs and operating costs, plus will explode and rain radioactive molten salt when not if the steam generator tubes leak. Thorium is a fertile material used to produce the fissile isotope of uranium233 233 u. For educational purposes only dartmouth college, may 2016. In a typical design, the liquid is pumped between a critical core and an external heat exchanger where the heat is transferred to a nonradioactive secondary. Therefore, lftr technology is fundamentally different from the solid fuel technology currently in use. Aka molten salt reactors msr, or liquid fluoride thorium.
Bwr fuel assemblies can be flexibly designed in terms of rods with varying compositions fissile content, and structural features enabling the fuel to. We discussed yesterday why the lftr is a totally safe alternative not just for fossil fuels. Phwrs, liquid metal cooled fast breeder reactors lmfbr and molten salt breeder. A thoriumsalt reactor has fired up for the first time in. A slightly different type of msr can consume the uraniumplutonium waste from solidfueled reactors as fuel. An investigation into liquid fluoride thorium reactors.
This paper will focus on the liquid fluoride thorium reactor lftr design, an implementation of one such gen iv idea, the molten salt reactor. Molten salt reactors are generation iv nuclear fission reactors that use molten salt as either the primary reactor coolant or as the fuel itself. Unlike conventional light water reactor designs, the liquid. Molten salt reactors msrs represent a class of reactors that use liquid salt, usually fluoride based or chloride based, as either a coolant with a solid fuel such as fluoride saltcooled hightemperature reactors or as a combined coolant and fuel with the fuel dissolved in a carrier salt. Pdf advantages of liquid fluoride thorium reactor in. The generation iv reactor designs are attempts to do just that. With molten fuel instead of fuel rods, msr can use all three of the available nuclear fuels.
731 1060 258 880 1466 1201 1453 830 307 47 1527 823 177 165 787 693 188 1208 588 157 531 103 996 183 198 1044 986 1426 1378 48 1205 262 1444 530 584 1036 299 220 670 809 516