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According to news on the official website of the "New Scientist" magazine on the 27th, the Dutch Nuclear Research Institute recently conducted the first experiment of the next-generation molten salt nuclear reactor, which is the first experiment in half a century to explore the use of thorium fuel to power the next generation of nuclear reactors. An important step was taken on the road.
It has long been considered a safer nuclear fuel. When it is struck by high-energy neutrons, it will be converted into fissile uranium-233, and the radioactive waste generated will be safer than the uranium-235 waste currently used by nuclear power plants.
The United States Oak Ridge National Laboratory began to develop molten salt reactors in the 1950s, but due to non-technical factors, it was suspended in the 1970s. In addition to a 2004 test reactor built by scientists in Kapacan, India, the research on thorium reactors has barely improved. Now, the Dutch nuclear research and consulting company cooperated with the European Commission to carry out this salt radiation experiment and hoped to study the feasibility of using thorium as a molten salt reactor fuel.
Experts believe that molten salt reactors are ideally suited for the use of thorium fuels, which can achieve very high temperatures and significantly increase power generation efficiency. The Dutch team bombarded a sample of thawed fuel with neutrons and converted thorium to uranium-233, thus maintaining the chain reaction needed to generate energy.
An important technical bottleneck faced by the development of molten salt reactors is the study of materials resistant to neutron radiation and anti-molten salt corrosion. Therefore, the Dutch team will also study the toughness of high-temperature metal alloys and how to handle the molten salt crucibles more efficiently. waste.
If the follow-up results of the project are significant, there may be a lot of wait-and-sees joining the "Ban Club." A startup company in the United States stated that it is developing anthraquinone reactors; the Utah Seven County Infrastructure Alliance is also exploring whether to join the Dutch project.
In spite of this, it is not yet possible to say that you have returned to the “main table†of nuclear fuel because the planned Kapakran reactor power generation in India is not going to be successful until the end of this year. Experts believe that if you want to use nuclear power as a clean energy source and eliminate the fear caused by the Fukushima disaster, you should wait patiently for the results of your experiments. (Reporter Fang Linlin)
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