Next nuclear 1

"Ideally, every nation would like to get its energy in some way that is safe, reliable, emits no carbon, produces no problematic waste - and of course is cheap."

Molten Salt Reactors (MSR) are a great fit for that description. Though the project was shut down after being successfully designed in America in the 1950's, MSR's seem to be in the midst of a re-birth because they fit today's needs. Interest in this form of energy has gone way beyond America. It's global.

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According to a Hong Kong newspaper, Chinese government researchers will be ready to test a Molten Salt Reactor prototype in September. A nuclear power plant of this type may be ready to provide power commercially to the Chinese by 2030.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in the U.S. developed the technology and it's now in the public domain, open to all. A former nuclear researcher says, "The real data mine is the thousands of published reports in 1960s and '70s that are found in the open literature."

from IEEE Spectrum

(cont'd tomorrow)