flibe energy
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* from flibe energy, thorcon, moltex, seaborg technologies, terrestrial energy and transatomic power .
flibe energy' s concept for a liquid - fluoride thorium reactor, or lftr .
flibe energy is an american company developing a lftr which is a type of msr .
he ultimately left nasa to join a nuclear - energy company, later striking out on his own with flibe energy .
flibe energy - the molten - salt reactor experiment building on a snowy winter day. | facebook
flibe energy' s sorensen partly blames aggressive government subsidization of wind and solar energy, which leads to the problem of negative pricing .
kirk sorensen - introduction to flibe energy. click here to see the pdf version of the slideshow .
flibe’s mission is to supply the world with affordable and sustainable energy, fresh water, and fuels .
the flibe energy design is an extraordinarily dangerous design, due to increases increased proliferation risks. best link is here :
monthly and yearly energy forecasts, analysis of energy topics, financial analysis, congressional reports .
independent of that, though, i' m still interested in what flibe has in mind .
in 2014, flibe energy commenced a funded study of the lftr design which has enhanced the understanding of the potential and the challenges of this approach .
flibe use in fusion reactors - - an initial safety assessment (technical report) | osti. gov
how long would it take to get international approve to build a commercial thorium msr reactor, for example the flibe energy design? what are ...
flibe energy will complete their funded study and will use the results to attract more resources to build on this study and to enhance the technical fidelity of the lftr design. flibe will seek support in this effort from potential partners in the united states and in other countries .
founded in 2011, flibe proposed to use thorium as a nuclear fuel instead of uranium. the founder kirk sorensen, both a nuclear engineer and rocket scientist, claims that corporate interests have prevented thorium from being used as a nuclear fuel. flibe’s
the international outlook presents an assessment by the u. s. energy information administration of the outlook for international energy markets through 2050
you' ve got to be able to generate energy reliably. you' ve got to be able to generate energy on demand. and that' s what wind and solar can' t do, and will never be able to do ,
kirk sorensen, the cto of nuclear energy startup flibe energy, told business insider in an episode of our podcast codebreaker, produced with marketplace .
a test tube of molten salt (blue liquid) made of fluoride, lithium, and beryllium, which is also called flibe .
flibe’s lftr design occupies a unique corner of the design space of molten - salt reactors, different from the other msr designs being offered .
showing the courage of his convictions, sorensen has quietly launched his own thorium reactor company, called flibe energy, in huntsville, ala. he aims to have liquid thorium reactors operating within 5 to 8 years .
around fifty years ago, the u. s. chose to develop uranium - based nuclear energy instead of thorium - based energy. both energy sources provided a ton of power — though theoretically thorium could provide a lot more .
col paul e. roege - can nuclear energy fill critical gaps in the military energy portfolio? click here to see the pdf version of the slideshow .
presented at the 3rd thorium energy alliance conference, in washington dc. kirk sorensen & kirk dorius announce creation of flibe energy, a company devoted to making energy from thorium a reality, via the liquid - fluoride thorium reactor (lftr). urltoken is a doc created (in part) from this footage. watch
lftr in 5 minutes - thorium remix 2011
at: urltoken
flibe energy is pouring resources into the msr concept, which the chinese academy of sciences said in 2014 would be one of its “five innovation centers that will unite the country’s leading talents for research in advanced science and technology fields. ”
humanity may face an energy crisis as the world' s population rapidly grows .
imagine a form of nuclear energy with greater output and virtually no safety issues .
much more efficient at producing energy - over 90% of the input fuel would be tapped for energy, vs. < 1% in today' s reactors
flibe energy isn’t the only one attempting to restart the atomic age. china has plans to build a similar reactor over the next few years, as part of plans to build more than 350 gigawatts of nuclear power and invest trillions into the industry. a gigawatt of power provides enough energy for roughly 700, 000 homes .
kirk can respond about what flibe has in mind. i can provide some information based on the ornl msbr design and our recent work on salt - cooled reactors .
thorium itself is slightly better than uranium, but the liquid core reactors being promoted by flibe and others increase proliferation risks steeply, negating any potential value of thorium .
by these standards, flibe and sorenson have been successful at promoting the idea of thorium, but because of their reliance on the dangerous and unpredictable liquid core design and growing uneasiness in the nuclear world, it is extremely unlikely that flibe and / or sorensen are going to be successful in building a private liquid - core reactor .
flibe energy in the usa is studying a 40 mw two - fluid graphite - moderated thermal reactor concept based on the 1970s msre. it uses lithium fluoride / beryllium fluoride (flibe) salt as its primary coolant in both circuits. this is based on earlier us work on the molten salt reactor programme. fuel is uranium - 233 bred from thorium in flibe blanket salt. fuel salt circulates through graphite logs. secondary loop coolant salt is sodium - beryllium fluoride (bef 2 - naf). a 2 mwt pilot plant is envisaged, and eventually 2225 mwt commercial plants .
flibe energy in the usa is studying a 40 mw two - fluid graphite - moderated thermal reactor concept based on the 1970s msre. it uses lithium fluoride / beryllium fluoride (flibe) salt as its primary coolant in both circuits. this is based on earlier us work on the molten salt reactor program. fuel is uranium - 233 bred from thorium in flibe blanket salt. fuel salt circulates through graphite logs. secondary loop coolant salt is sodium - beryllium fluoride (bef 2 - naf). a 2 mwt pilot plant is envisaged, and eventually 2225 mwt commercial plants .
flibe energy is dedicated to developing the liquid - fluoride thorium reactor (lftr) to provide safe, abundant energy from thorium. imagine holding a lifetime' s supply of energy in the palm of your hand - - that is possible with thorium and lftr technology. the liquid - fluoride thorium reactor is walk - away safe and runs at ambient pressure unlike the high pressures of today' s water - cooled reactor .
comprehensive data summaries, comparisons, analysis, and projections integrated across all energy sources .
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flibe energy will initially design, develop and demonstrate a small modular liquid - fluoride thorium reactor (sm - lftr) for the us military. * desired first demonstration at a military site to be determined. * design power level of 20 - 50 mwe .
u. s. energy information administration 1000 independence ave. , sw washington, dc 20585
the thorium energy alliance hosts their third conference in washington d. c. - may 2011
transatomic is a young nuclear waste startup that wants to give atomic energy a better name .
energy, raw materials and room are available. but not on the surface of earth .
flibe energy is a startup in the nuclear power space seeking to find a safe way to enable nuclear energy using a technology previously dismissed by the us government since it could not be used for making material for nuclear weapons. the founders believe they have found a way to create safe, clean energy using a proven but forgotten technology. the challenges are steep, however, as proof of the technology will require hundreds of millions of dollars in funding .
the coolant salt in a secondary circuit was lithium + beryllium fluoride (flibe). * there was no breeding blanket, this being omitted for simplicity in favour of neutron measurements .
when the people try to talk about alternative energy, they talk with much emotion about nuclear energy. to take decisions, we need to set apart the emotions and see the facts .
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imsr: terrestrial energy' s integral molten salt reactor - by dr. david leblanc @ teac7
dr alex cannara - energy basics. click here to see the pdf version of the slideshow .
a subreddit decitated to thorium as a future energy resource, and the liquid fluoride thorium reactor .
the u. s. nuclear industry has already allocated $ 25 billion for storage or reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel. flibe energy. [ perhaps the company that builds lftrs will get the contract? development of lftrs and construction of manufacturing plants for the entire world would cost less. ]
cadwallader, l. c. , & longhurst, g. r. flibe use in fusion reactors - - an initial safety assessment. united states. doi: 10. 2172 / 752080 .
kirk sorensen is the co - founder and chief technologist of flibe energy. he is a member of a tiny club of people who can honestly claim to be atomic entrepreneurs. he is a brilliant man – one of the few people who has been both a rocket scientist and a nuclear engineer .
forms eia uses to collect energy data including descriptions, links to survey instructions, and additional information .
egeneration foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering the development of safe and environmentally friendly energy technologies .
“a molten - salt reactor [ msr ] uses a liquid mixture of salts, some of which are salts of uranium and thorium, as the medium in which nuclear fission reactions take place, ” kirk sorensen, president and chief technologist of the reactor company flibe energy, told the daily caller news foundation .
ontario ministry of energy - smr deployment feasibility study: feasibility of the potential deployment of small modular reactors (smrs) in ontario prepared by hatch ltd. for the ontario ministry of energy, 2 june 2016
climate science aside, the economics of nuclear energy are enough of a draw to make the technology worthwhile .
as a result, nuclear is having a harder time finding a seat at the energy - pricing table .
( and nuclear bombs), since each fission event turns a little bit of mass into pure energy .
thorium is a naturally - occuring mineral that holds large amounts of releasable nuclear energy, similar to uranium. this nuclear energy can be released in a special nuclear reactor designed to use thorium. thorium is special because it is easier to extract this energy completely than uranium due to some of the chemical and nuclear properties of thorium .
environmental regulations require that solar and wind power always be used if they are avalaible and give substantial financial incentives to encourage green energy use. these regulations compromise the reliability of the entire power grid. the u. s. federal energy regulatory commission (ferc) is currently investigating how green energy undermines the reliability of the electrical grid .
i am of two minds of this. when i consider what the lftr can do in terms of global energy demand and global energy production, i consider the engineering challenges unbelievably modest. when i contrast that with how would we power the world using solar energy, or wind energy, or conventional nuclear, or a host of other things? i go, my goodness, this is orders of magnitude, and easier to do than that .
cadwallader, l. c. , and longhurst, g. r. mon .
flibe use in fusion reactors - - an initial safety assessment
. united states. doi: 10. 2172 / 752080. urltoken
conducted by the nuclear energy institute, and it includes an interesting caveat: the 84 percent of people who responded favorably did so “once informed that nuclear energy produces nearly two - thirds of the nation’s low - carbon electricity. ” in other words: people seem to like the idea of nuclear energy, once they know more about it .
in august 2016 x - energy signed an agreement to work with southern nuclear operating company to collaborate on development and commercialization of their respective small reactor designs. southern is developing an msr, the molten chloride fast reactor (mcfr). in september 2017 x - energy signed an agreement with centrus energy to develop triso fabrication technology for uranium oxycarbide fuel .
nuclear also wins financially against solar rooftops, many fuel - cell energy schemes, and some geothermal and bioenergy plants .
for economics of solid fuel reactors, including construction, fuel, waste, decomissioning, see doty energy – fission .
kirk sorensen, ceo of flibe energy, believes the medical isotopes produced from liquid fluoride thorium reactors (lftrs) will actually be more valuable than the electricity generated. furthermore, he says this revenue stream will be sufficient to fund the proliferation of thorium reactors for commercial purposes - that the electricity generated will be, in essence, a secondary product .
“in the 40s and 50s they had an expansive definition of what nuclear power was – it wasn’t just solid fuel uranium reactors, ” said sorensen, who is flibe’s president. “but that’s what it has come to mean now. ”
its brutalist architecture may not be sexy, but nuclear energy unlocks a truly incredible source of carbon - free fuel. ounce per ounce, uranium provides roughly 16, 000 times more energy than coal and creates millions of times less pollution .
the following presentations are from the third thorium energy alliance conference held in washington d. c. on may 12th 2011 .
arnie is a real expert on nuclear energy, chris. are gundersen and martenson from the same part of europe originally ?
cadwallader, l. c. , and longhurst, g. r. flibe use in fusion reactors - - an initial safety assessment. united states: n. p. , 1999. web. doi: 10. 2172 / 752080 .
in the international energy outlook 2017 (ieo2017) reference case, total world energy consumption rises from 575 quadrillion british thermal units (btu) in 2015 to 736 quadrillion btu in 2040, an increase of 28% . most of the world’s energy growth will occur in countries outside of the organization for economic cooperation and development (oecd) [ 1 ], where strong, long - term economic growth drives increasing demand for energy. non - oecd asia (including china and india) alone accounts for more than half of the world’s total increase in energy consumption over the 2015 to 2040 projection period. by 2040, energy use in non - oecd asia exceeds that of the entire oecd by 41 quadrillion btu in the ieo2017 reference case (figure 1) .
the plutonium fuel cycle is a great way to make weapons. meanwhile, the thorium fuel cycle can produce almost limitless energy .
the 8th annual thorium energy alliance conference was held in st. louis, missouri in august 2017. click here for more info
you can look at a large company like [ united launch alliance ] and compare its capability to develop rocket designs with spacex. the big, incumbent nuclear firms face issues around technological lock - in. and they can' t avoid it because of the scale they have to work and operate ,
said peterson, who is also on flibe energy' s board of advisors .
so flibe is initially focusing on smaller, “modular” - sized reactors of around 20 to 30 megawatts. dorius said even that size would cost “hundreds of millions” for “the first in kind demonstrator reactors” but that “mass production” could slash costs in half within 5 years .
reactors — is
still decades away from a [... ] power plant that generates more energy than it consumes .
kim johnson - thorium & fluorides, energy chemically engineered on the fly. click here to see the pdf version of the slideshow .
232 u cannot be chemically separated from 233 u and has several decay products that emit high - energy gamma radiation. these high - energy photons are a radiological hazard that necessitate the use of remote handling of separated uranium and aid in the passive detection of such materials .
the liquid fluoride thorium reactor (lftr) is a heterogeneous msr design which breeds its u - 233 fuel from a fertile blanket of of lithium - beryllium fluoride (flibe) salts with thorium fluoride. some of the neutrons released during fission of the u - 233 salt in the reactor core are absorbed by the thorium in the blanket salt. the resulting u - 233 is separated from the blanket salt and in flibe becomes the liquid core fuel. lftrs can rapidly change their power output, and hence be used for load - following .
it contained a loop filled with a molten salt made of fluorine, lithium, and beryllium — or flibe, the namesake of sorensen' s energy - from - thorium startup — plus zirconium. the salt carried around dissolved u - 235 and eventually u - 233, making msre the world' s first reactor to run on u - 233 fuel. a second loop of molten salt cooled the reactor .
several nuclear scientists said the nation was simply too wedded to uranium when the department of energy cut funding to the oak ridge reactor research .
juhasz noted that it takes more than 300 tons of naturally occurring uranium to produce the same energy as 1 ton of naturally occurring thorium .
( but not funding !), and would serve as a centralized headquarters for the mass proliferation of thorium energy in the united states .
if you press sorensen for a simple analogy that illustrates how energy from thorium works, he may plunk you down in a wet forest .
epd sees that ‘thorium, an accessible, radio - actively fertile material, will eventually become the global energy resource of choice ...
we are nearing ecological limits of the planet and more energy, even if it' s made cleanly, won' t increase it .
robert hargraves: thorium energy cheaper than from coal ~ aim high! presented at the 3rd thorium energy alliance conference, in washington dc. urltoken is a doc created (in part) from this footage. watch
lftr in 5 minutes - thorium remix 2011
at: urltoken
terrestrial energy reviewed four potential us sites for the reactor, including one at the idaho national laboratory (inl), and an agreement was signed with energy northwest in march 2018 for the first imsr to be built here. the other three sites are located east of the mississippi .
sorensen estimates that between 5, 000 - 6, 000 tonnes of thorium could produce as much energy as the world currently consumes each year .
thanks for the comment john. that’s interesting. what was the connection between nuclear energy and oil? wouldn’t it be the coal companies protesting ?
for now the full benefits of thorium energy are unproven, though countries like china, india and norway are investing heavily in research and development .
a cold war - era liquid - fueled reactor design could transform thorium — a radioactive waste from mining — into a practically limitless energy source .
energy process developments ltd, july 2015, msr review: feasibility of developing a pilot scale molten salt reactor in the uk, july 2015 .
chris martenson: welcome everyone to this peak prosperity podcast. it is june 15, 2017. i am your host, chris martenson. the world has pinned so much of its future hopes and dreams on making a smooth transition to alternative energy. this means mainly solar and wind power. now, of the two, wind power has the very best economics; and, more importantly, energy returned on energy invested profile .
craving reliable energy that doesn' t come with a big side order of carbon, the united states is taking a new look at nuclear power .
‘the national research centre
kurchatov institute
and state corporation
rosatom
atomic energy will in conjunction make proposals on the prospects of using thorium .
long - established nuclear - energy companies aren' t interested in overturning decades of
business as usual
to gamble on a technology that' s radically different from anything in their portfolios. after all, the lftr may work but end up being outcompeted on price for the energy it generates .
how do we get all 7 billion people on the planet (perhaps 9 billion by 2050) to agree to drastically cut their co2 emissions? the answer: make it in their immediate self - interest by providing cheap c02 - free energy, energy cheaper than they can get by burning coal .
i hope you enjoy the conversation; kirk and i do not really need anyone else to enable a spirited discussion about various forms of nuclear energy .
sorensen faces huge hurdles. his project won’t be cheap. flibe co - founder and chief legal counsel kirk dorius estimates it will cost at least $ 1 billion to develop a modest utility - sized reactor (it’s not clear whether that would mean something around or above a gigawatt of capacity) .
it seems to have a safety issue associated with it. to me, the answer is very simple. it is because nuclear energy alone has an energy density millions of times greater than the chemical energies that we currently run our society on. this is because in nuclear energy, we are releasing the energies that bind together the nucleus of the atom. those energies are millions of times stronger than the energies that bind together the electrons of the atom .
in the long term, the ieo2017 reference case projects increased world consumption of marketed energy from all fuel sources—except coal, where demand is essentially flat—through 2040 (figure 2). renewables are the world’s fastest - growing energy source, with consumption increasing by an average 2. 3% / year between 2015 and 2040. the world’s second fastest - growing source of energy is nuclear power, with consumption increasing by 1. 5% / year over that period .
at least, that' s the news from a tight - knit collective of energy blogs, dedicated to a common but relatively unknown metal called thorium .
thorium, they say, provides all the carbon - free energy of uranium - about 300 times more, actually - with almost none of the guilt .
the remaining trans - uranics should be burned in an msr, producing energy. without the u238 present, there is even a nice surplus of neutrons !
energy sources such as hydroelectric and wind are still cheaper than nuclear, and a fracking boom has fueled investment in natural - gas - fired power plants .
james kennedy - u. s. heavy rare earth cooperative and global economics of thorium energy. click here to see the pdf version of the slideshow .
in a sense, we need another near infinite energy source to clean up the pollution we have already released to date. however, unless we are very wise with that energy it will be another deadly bargain. growth is probably coded directly into our genes. it will take a lot to overcome this .
chris martenson: well, let' s talk about thorium as a nuclear fuel just to get everybody on the same page here. because when we say nuclear, people are thinking uranium or maybe plutonium. thorium, first, what is thorium? what is a thorium reactor as your company flibe is imagining it ?
that is in part because the fission cycle runs hotter than conventional uranium cycles, said sorensen. in the flibe design, thorium reaction temperatures rise to about 750 degrees celsius to drive gas turbines, compared to conventional reactors, which tend to reach less than half that temperature and drive less efficient steam turbines, he said .
he also envisioned a world flush with thorium molten - salt breeder reactors as cheap, clean energy sources not only for the us but also for the developing world .
x - energy was born to leave a cleaner world for our grandchildren and their grandchildren. with so much at stake, we cannot continue down the same path .
i' ve covered all of these issues in depth and while i am a supporter of alt - energy, it has yet to live up to the hype .
most (probably 90 %) of the total energy used in the home can be easily shifted to sunlight hours of operation. cheap batteries can handle the rest .
meanwhile, renewable energy sources like wind and solar, though key parts of a solution, are not silver bullets — especially if the world is to meet a 2050 deadline set by the paris agreement. energy from fusion is promising, but it' s not yet proved to work, let alone on a commercial and competitive scale .
kirk sorensen: we are always trying to add resources, and understanding, and insights to our website at flibe dash energy dot com, f - l - i - b - e dash energy dot com. i would also invite people to get in touch with me directly at my e - mail kirk f sorensen, k - i - r - k - f - s - o - r - e - n - s - e - n at gmail dot com. particularly, if you want to know more about this; or if you think that you might be able to help. please mention that you heard about it on chris' s podcast .
do you feel about nuclear energy? if you’re like 84 percent of america, you believe that nuclear power should be “very important in the future. ” that’s according to
the department of energy approved $ 200, 000 in funding at oak ridge for analytical studies this year of molten salt reactors using thorium and uranium, a department spokeswoman said .
products of the lftr 49 so the lftr 49 produces energy and short lived fission products like a normal lftr 23. it is a commercial power plant like any other lftr .
n. in october 2010, geh announced it was exploring the possibility with savannah river nuclear solutions of building a prototype prism reactor at the department of energy’s savannah river site .
shaw led the atomic energy commission' s research wing during weinberg' s tenure at ornl and, in 1972, issued a rambling report that terminated weinberg' s project .
kirk sorensen: i would, too. it would be a far less obtrusive energy source than any other energy source you know about. it would not emit anything that would dirty the air. it would not be visually obstructive. it would not make noise. it would not be subject to the weather; sometimes working and sometimes not working .
x - energy is a cutting edge nuclear engineering company with a vision of making a significant contribution to the fight against carbon emissions and climate change by promoting clean and affordable nuclear energy. to fulfill its vision, x - energy is designing the xe - 100, a high temperature gas - cooled pebble - bed nuclear reactor. the unique properties of pebble bed reactors will allow the xe - 100 to open clean, reliable nuclear power to entirely new markets. x - energy sees an extensive government and civilian market for the xe - 100: the xe - 100’s small footprint and ultra - safe design allow operation close to population centers, and it is also suited for installation at geographically - constrained sites .
small modular reactors – key to future nuclear power generation in the u. s. , nov 2011, technical paper for doe from university of chicago energy policy institute (epic )
why this sudden interest in a nuclear technology that dates back to the 1950s? the answer lies in both the phenomenal safety of msrs and their potential to help solve so many of today’s energy related problems, from climate change to energy poverty to the intermittency of wind and solar power. in fact, msrs can operate so safely, they may alleviate public fears about nuclear energy. before looking at the potential of msrs, though, it is useful to first take a high - level look at what they are and how they work .
get the teac3 dvd. the best of all of the third thorium energy alliance conference lectures can be seen on this single easy to view dvd. pick up your copy here .
the fluid can dramatically increase the efficiency of nuclear fission by making it easy to remove fission products. this helps it burn up almost all the nuclear fuel and boosts energy output .
however it gets built — or whoever builds it — sorensen is convinced that thorium - fueled molten - salt reactors are the key to solving earth' s energy blues for good .
i was asked to speak at the platts nuclear energy conference in washington, dc, on february 10, as part of their panel on “new approaches to advanced reactor design. ”
flibe’s lftr uses a liquid fluoride salt to serve both as fuel carrier and coolant. the fuel consists of thorium and uranium 233 – different from the uranium 235 used in conventional reactors. it fissions in the liquid, heats up, and passes through a heat exchanger that conveys the heat to fuel - free liquid fluoride salt that eventually drives the gas turbine .
westinghouse has officially
introduced
its 200 mwe small modular reactor (smr), and says it is preparing for a role in the us department of energy' s demonstration program .
' state corporation
rosatom
nuclear energy in cooperation with relevant organizations to develop a coordinated position on the procedure for handling of thorium, resulting in the production of rare earth metals .
today' s cheap, bountiful supplies make it hard to see humanity' s looming energy crisis, but it' s possibly coming within our lifetimes. our numbers will grow from 7. 36 billion people today to 9 billion in 2040, an increase of 22% . rapidly developing nations, however, will supercharge global energy consumption at more than twice that rate .
the argument to support growth in nuclear energy is so clear to james hansen, a seasoned climatologist and outspoken environmentalist, that he passionately advocates for the use and development of the technology .
today, the industry is already profitable, albeit well subsidized. still, if you level the energy playing field against other power sources by taking into account government subsidies and tax breaks, capital costs, fuel costs, and other factors that affect the price - per - megawatt - hour of a power plant, nuclear energy remains a financial win in the long run .
kirk sorensen believes firmly that safe nuclear power can contribute significantly to the world’s energy future – provided that reactors run on liquid thorium fuel rather than on solid uranium as they do today .
meanwhile renewable energy is racing away with the prize. i' d like to see chris interview someone from the wind, sun, water, geothermal sectors, where workable solutions exist .
in a press release which described the westinghouse smr as
another milestone in energy history
, westinghouse also said it was actively working to prepare for the upcoming us department of energy small reactors program, and intended to be the
leading industry collaborator
in the initiative. in may 2010, us energy secretary steven chu announced $ 20 million of funding for research and development in generation iv reactors including small reactors, and the us budget request submitted earlier this week by president barack obama included a $ 97 million request to support research into small modular reactors .
b & w nuclear energy inc set up b & w modular nuclear energy llc (now bwxt mpower inc) to market the design, in collaboration with bechtel which joined the project as a 10% equity partner to design, license and deploy it. the company expects both design certification and construction permit in 2018, and commercial operation of the first two units in 2022 .
the deer (deployable electric energy reactor) is being developed by radix power & energy corporation in the usa, in collaboration with brookhaven technology group, brookhaven national laboratory, parsons corporation, dunedin energy systems, and university of california, berkley. the deer is a pwr and would be portable and sealed, able to operate in the range of 10 to 50 mwe. deer - 1 uses fuel based on that in triga research reactors, with a ten - year cycle, and deer - 2 uses triso fuel, for forward military bases or remote mining sites .
the existing knowledge on stored energy it is possible to show that stored energy releases do not occur spontaneously, and that the maximum stored energy that can be released from any reactor containing graphite is a very small fraction of the energy produced during the first few minutes of a burning incident. the conclusions from these analyses are that the potential to initiate or maintain a graphite burning incident is essentially independent of the stored energy in the graphite, and depends on other factors that are unique for these reactors, research reactors, and for fort st. vrain. in order to have self - sustained rapid graphite oxidation in any of these reactors, certain necessary conditions of geometry, temperature, oxygen supply, reaction product removal, and a favorable heat balance must be maintained. there is no new evidence associated with either the windscale accident or the chernobyl accident that indicates a credible potential for a graphite burning accident in any of the reactors considered in this review .
although burning the u238 that is in the waste produces a lot of energy, this also means that it would take a very, very long time to considerably reduce the existing waste stock .
the world population may balloon to 9 billion people by 2040, up from 7. 36 billion in 2016, and researchers believe this will translate to a 48% jump in energy consumption .
it seems more reliable if the drained configuration can convect straight to the open air, conduct straight to the ground, or radiate to the open sky; are any of those possible? i' m very curious to see what flibe has in mind, as a robust scheme for residual heat rejection seems to me a very important part of the overall argument for lftr passive safety .
so - called
nuclear waste
or spent - nuclear fuel is produced in conventional (solid - core) nuclear reactors because they are unable to extract all of the nuclear energy from their fuel before they have to shutdown. lftr addresses this issue by using a form of nuclear fuel (liquid - fluoride salts of thorium) that allow complete extraction of nuclear energy from the fuel .
in the energy policy act of 2005, congress called for next - generation nuclear reactors that would be highly economical, equipped with safety enhancements, have minimal waste, and be proliferation - resistant .
but grasping the promise and potential perils of a thorium - powered future, or any other atomic - energy scheme, means you' ve got to know a thing or two about nuclear physics .
( i don’t know how much of that $ 200 million would be profit or recovering development expenses, and how much is materials and labor etc. keep following thorium energy alliance conference talks. )
meanwhile, renewable energy like wind and solar, though key parts of a solution, are no silver bullets — especially if the world is to meet a 2050 deadline set by the paris agreement .
but nevertheless, so much industrial work had gone into that technology. but, the atomic energy commission decided, okay, we are going to make building the fast breeder reactor our national energy goal. they enshrined that in the mid -' 60s despite the failure of the fermi 1 reactor. they poured enormous resources into this. they viewed weinberg' s work on the thorium reactor as an undesired competitor to the fast breeder reactor. he was receiving paltry amounts of funding from the atomic energy commission, whereas the fast breeder was receiving amounts on the order of a hundred times greater .
nuclear reactors fit the bill: they' re dense, reliable, emit no carbon, and — contrary to popular belief — are among the safest energy sources on earth. they currently supply 20% of america' s energy, but this share may decline by 50% through 2040 as companies take decades - old reactors offline, according to a july 2016 report released by idaho national laboratory .
in march 2012 hyperion power generation changed its name to gen4 energy, and the name of its reactor to gen4 module (g4m). it pitched its design for remote sites having smaller power requirements .
and it does a whole bunch of things it doesn' t do today, like make energy without emitting carbon ,
he added, though the same could be said of any nuclear reactor .
they weren' t good for making nuclear weapons, though, among other reasons, so bureaucrats pulled funding for the revolutionary energy technology. the last working molten - salt reactor shut down in 1969 .
measuring immediate deaths against gigawatts of electrical power is a typical way to assess the safety of energy sources, and a 2010 analysis by the organization for economic cooperation and development (oecd) used this .
the us department of energy is collaborating with the china academy of sciences on the program, which had a start - up budget of $ 350 million. tmsr commercial deployment is anticipated in the 2030s .
in 2015, x - energy will continue to execute its rigorous plan to achieve an ambitious development schedule. x - energy will continue design and engineering work on the xe - 100 in preparation for nrc engagement and beyond. the company is initiating plans for pebble fuel development in the us. the company will continue its efforts to identify business partners and customers to further xe - 100 development. furthermore, x - energy seeks to share the remarkable attributes of the xe - 100 with a larger audience in 2015 and establish pebble - bed technology as the most promising nuclear technology under development in the united states .
for all of these reasons, a growing number of scientists and energy experts believe that the world should switch from uranium to thorium as its primary nuclear fuel. compared to uranium, thorium is far more abundant as well as much more energy - dense. in addition, the waste products generated by thorium are virtually impossible to turn into plutonium – and they remain dangerous for hundred of years rather than thousands .
in february 2017 the company signed an agreement with the italian national agency for new technologies, energy and sustainable economic development (enea) and ansaldo nucleare to develop the design. beyond base - load electricity generation, the high - temperature operation of the lfr will allow for effective load - following capability enabled by an innovative thermal energy storage system, as well as delivery of process heat for industrial applications and water desalination .
in january 2016 the us doe awarded a gateway for accelerated innovation in nuclear (gain) grant to the project, worth up to $ 40 million. in august 2016 southern nuclear operating company signed an agreement to work with x - energy to collaborate on development and commercialization of their respective small reactor designs. with terrapower and ornl, x - energy is designing the xe - 100 pebble - bed htr of 48 mwe .
a 2015 independent review of the lftr concept by the electric power research institute deemed it a
potentially transformational technology for meeting future energy needs in the face of uncertain market, policy, and regulatory constraints .
this report reviews existing literature and knowledge on graphite burning and on stored energy accumulation and releases in order to assess what role, if any, a stored energy release can have in initiating or contributing to hypothetical graphite burning scenarios in research reactors. it also addresses the question of graphite ignition and self - sustained combustion in the event of a loss - of - coolant accident (loca). the conditions necessary to initiate and maintain graphite burning are summarized and discussed. from analyses of existing information it is concluded that only stored energy accumulations and releases below the burning temperature (650 / sup 0 / c) are pertinent. after reviewing
today, engineers like sorensen are trying to revive the molten - salt reactor, which the us abandoned in the early 1970s, and fuel it with a practically infinite source of carbon - free energy: thorium .
kirk sorensen stumbles across oak ridge national laboratory' s research into the thorium molten salt reactor while researching means to power a lunar space colony for nasa. history of this design is recounted, including the politics (and the need for a weaponizable nuclear fuel) which killed it. discussing energy alternatives, the capacity of solar / wind renewable is examined. can society depend of intermittent power sources? it is even possible politically to move people to more expensive sources of energy? the molten salt reactor offers us a choice between future of abundant clean energy, and a future in which we continue to wage wars over dwindling fossil fuel resources .
lif without the toxic beryllium solidifies at about 500°c and boils at about 1200°c. flinak (lif - naf - kf) is also eutectic and solidifies at 454°c and boils at 1570°c. it has a higher neutron cross - section than flibe or lif but can be used in intermediate cooling loops. sodium - beryllium fluoride (bef 2 - naf) solidifying at 385°c is used as fuel salt in one design for cost reasons .
in february 2018, ge hitachi nuclear energy, global nuclear fuel, holtec and smr inventec signed a memorandum of understanding, with the initial focus on fuel development and control rod drive mechanisms for the smr - 160 .
it had a very unique design. that is not what ended up really being the predominant form of nuclear energy in the country. the predominant form of nuclear energy in the country came from the work of admiral rickover, who was trying to build a reactor to power a submarine. it had certain limitations on it. it had be very small. it had to be very compact. it had to utilize highly enriched uranium .
the creation of a
thorium storage and industrial products corporation
which would store the thorium obtained from monazite mines and find end - users for the product, specifically, as an energy source. this
thorium bank
in absolute terms, nuclear energy prevents about 80, 000 air - pollution - related deaths a year, according to a 2013 study. groups with antinuclear positions, such as greenpeace, have struggled to spin these numbers .
the chinese nhr - 200 (nuclear heating reactor), developed by tsingua university' s institute of nuclear energy technology (now the institute of nuclear and new energy technology), is a simple 200 mwt integral pwr design for district heating or desalination. it is based on the nhr - 5 which was commissioned in 1989, and runs at lower temperature than the above designs h. used fuel is stored around the core in the pressure vessel .
he started out studying such systems as potential power plants for a moon base or a spacecraft. but he came to the conclusion that they could make a big dent in greenhouse gas emissions and energy needs right here on earth .
these numbers suggest that more than 99% of us aren' t intimately familiar with how nuclear energy works — so here' s a bit of background about the atomic magic that provides roughly one - fifth of us power .
china, india, the czech republic and russia are exploring this technology. we are virtually stalled because we don’t have a national resolve to address a pending problem, which is our energy crisis… if you read dr. moniz’s (the current secretary of energy) strategic plan for the doe, it does not mention nuclear. instead it is in pursuit of solar, wind, and biomass. none of these technologies would be sustainable without significant government subsidies .
inside a molten - salt breeder reactor, which burns up almost all of its fuel and generates hundreds of times less waste than lwrs, weinberg estimated that thorium could meet the world' s energy needs for billions of years .
floating power sources based on nuclear reactor plants, panov et al. , federal state unitary enterprise the federal scientific and industrial center i. i. afrikantov experimental design bureau of mechanical engineering, nizhny novgorod, russia, presented at the 5th international conference on asian energy cooperation: mechanisms, risks, barriers (aec - 2006), organized by the energy systems institute of the russian academy of sciences and held in yakutsk, russia (27 - 29 june 2006 )
china plans for the tmsr - sf to be an energy solution for the northwest half of the country, with lower population density and little water. the application of water - free cooling in arid regions is envisaged from about 2025 .
fossil fuels could slake the world' s thirst for energy, but burning more would exacerbate climate change and threaten millions. and it' d be temporary, since known reserves are expected to run out within a century or two .
the department of energy estimates it may take until 2040 or 2050 to license a full - scale and commercial molten - salt power plant. meanwhile, america' s aging yet vital nuclear power plants aren' t getting any younger .
kirk sorensen: yeah, absolutely. when i think about what you have just described. a system to accommodate the fact that the wind and the solar energy are not where the people are. fifty trillion to try to move that electricity around. then, i think of the fact that the amount of thorium that it would take to provide all of the energy, all of the energy you would use in your entire life is about the size of a small marble. it would fit in your pocket. it would cost a few cents. do you realize? what should we be moving around? should we be trying to move electricity? or, should we be trying to move thorium ?
theoretically the u238 can be turned into useful energy in this way, so you can get a huge amount of energy from the waste. even up to 20 times more than was originally produced by the fuel rods. but the downside is that while burning u238, you will produce a lot of new actinides too. whether in the end the process will significantly reduce the amount of long lived waste, remains to be seen, and strongly depends on the reactor design .
nuclear reactors, on the other hand, fit the bill: they' re dense, reliable, emit no carbon, and — contrary to bitter popular sentiment — are among the safest energy sources on earth. today, they supply about 20% of america' s energy, though by the 2040s, this share may drop to 10% as companies shut down decades - old reactors, according to a july 2016 report released by idaho national laboratory (inl).
flibe energy is an american company that intends to design , construct , and operate small modular reactors based on liquid fluoride thorium reactor ( acronym lftr ; pronounced lifter ) technology . 
flibe energy is an american company that intends to design, construct, and operate small modular reactors based on liquid fluoride thorium reactor (acronym lftr; pronounced lifter) technology.
flibe energy is an american company that intends to design, construct, and operate small modular reactors based on liquid fluoride thorium reactor (acronym lftr; pronounced lifter) technology.