Influence of the Processing and Salt Composition on the Thorium Molten Salt Reactor

Combining in situ HT-ESEM observations and dilatometry: An original and fast way to the sintering map of ThO2

“…Also, in the case of spent fuel disposal in an underground repository, it is generally expected to present an improved chemical durability compared to uranium-based fuels [26e28]. On this basis, it constitutes one of the fuels investigated in the framework of the Generation IV International Forum [29], with potential applications in the Molten Salt Reactor (MSR) concept [30,31].…”

Synthesis and characterization of Th1−xLnxO2−x/2 mixed-oxides

“…REE-doped thoria (REE = rare-earth element) is of great interest in view of its promising applications in various areas of energy technology such as oxygen sensors [1][2][3][4] or as potential nuclear fuel in several future concepts [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. Indeed, due to the promising resources of thorium ores and to the possibility to achieve a nuclear fuel cycle which considerably reduces the amount of longlive radioactive wastes, a renewal of interest of thoria-based nuclear fuel cycles recently emerged.…”

“…Indeed, due to the promising resources of thorium ores and to the possibility to achieve a nuclear fuel cycle which considerably reduces the amount of longlive radioactive wastes, a renewal of interest of thoria-based nuclear fuel cycles recently emerged. As an example, the possibility to reduce the radiotoxicity of waste in the current nuclear fuel cycle by incorporating the minor actinides in new UO 2 -or ThO 2 -based fuels then performing their transmutation in fast neutron reactors is currently examined [11][12][13]. Likewise, ThO 2 -Er 2 O 3 -PuO 2 or ThO 2 -Gd 2 O 3 -PuO 2 ternary systems were recently envisaged as new fuel elements [6,7].…”

Fusion breeding for mid-century, sustainable, carbon free power

“…It seems extremely unlikely that a small number of fission breeders could supply a large number of thermal reactors. However, it is possible to have an energy infrastructure where each reactor is a breeder for itself alone, in other words each has a breeding ratio of unity [38,39,40]. A 60 MW thermal thorium breeder has been built and operated at Shippensport for 5 years, and at the end had slightly more fissile material than it began with [41].…”