Chinese sources reported reaching an important milestone in the country’s nuclear energy industry. An experimental thorium molten salt reactor built in China reached its peak output, was reloaded, and continued operating. The project thus demonstrated the ability to operate in a full cycle, which was the best confirmation of the correctness of the chosen architecture. There are simply no other similar reactors in the world.
Image source: AI generation Grok 3/3DNews
Thorium reserves on Earth are enormous. Moreover, thorium can be extracted from waste generated during the extraction of rare earth elements. China, the main supplier of rare earth raw materials on the planet, is literally inundated with such waste. The country has extremely limited reserves of uranium ore, but it can afford to have plenty of thorium — its reserves are enough to operate nuclear reactors in China for hundreds of thousands of years.
Thorium cannot be used directly as a radioactive fuel to initiate a fission reaction in a reactor. It is converted into uranium-233 in a series of isotope transformations, which is then used in the reactor. The peculiarity of loading fuel into a molten salt reactor is that the melt serves both as a coolant and a fuel carrier. Chinese developers were able to organize the process of loading, operating, unloading and reloading the reactor, providing it with a full service cycle.
The experimental thorium-fueled reactor has a capacity of 2 MW and produces 1 MW of electrical power. The reactor reached full capacity in June 2024 and was restarted four months later for a new cycle. Since the design has proven its feasibility, construction of a more powerful thorium-salt reactor, with a thermal capacity of 60 MW and an electrical capacity of 10 MW, will begin this year. This reactor is expected to begin operation in 2030. Successful commissioning of the second reactor will pave the way for the construction of a 100-megawatt thorium-salt reactor.
The first reactor was built in the Gobi Desert. It does not require water for cooling, which expands the geography of nuclear power plant construction in China. The second reactor will also be built in a desert area. This is a good example for Middle Eastern countries, where water is always in short supply. For China, this is also an opportunity to develop the export of nuclear technology. The United States once built an experimental molten salt reactor, but it was decommissioned in 1969. China took this experience into account and went further.