Abstract
The commercial potential for molten salt reactors (MSRs) fuelled with thorium is discussed. Specific technical, regulatory, and organisational challenges are highlighted, which could prevent, or limit, commercial realization. These include materials, safety, reprocessing, and proliferation concerns. Potential issues are also discussed regarding the MSRs’ likely competitors, and how this may affect research and development. It is concluded that thorium and MSRs are complementary technologies, and that the introduction of the thorium fuel cycle will likely be tied to MSR development.
J.D. Turner presented this paper at the Thorium Energy Conference 2013 (ThEC13)
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Turner, J., Donaldson, A.J. (2016). Opportunities and Challenges for Thorium in Commercial Molten Salt Reactors. In: Revol, JP., Bourquin, M., Kadi, Y., Lillestol, E., de Mestral, JC., Samec, K. (eds) Thorium Energy for the World. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26542-1_19
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26542-1_19
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