TMSR-LF1 (液态燃料钍基熔盐实验堆; "liquid fuel thorium-based molten salt experimental reactor") is a 2 MW_t

molten salt reactor A molten salt reactor (MSR) is a class of nuclear fission reactor in which the primary nuclear reactor coolant and/or the fuel is a molten salt mixture. Only two MSRs have ever operated, both research reactors in the United States. The 1950's Ai ...

(MSR)

pilot plant A pilot plant is a pre-commercial production system that employs new production technology and/or produces small volumes of new technology-based products, mainly for the purpose of learning about the new technology. The knowledge obtained is then ...

located in northwest China.

History

In January 2011, the

Chinese Academy of Sciences The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS); ), known by Academia Sinica in English until the 1980s, is the national academy of the People's Republic of China for natural sciences. It has historical origins in the Academia Sinica during the Republ ...

(CAS) began the TMSR

research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...

project to create reactors which, among other advances, will be air-cooled. CAS assigned the project to its

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

Institute of Applied Physics (SINAP), which now has MSR research and design facilities in the

Jiading District Jiading is a suburban district of Shanghai. It had a population of 1,471,100 in 2010. History Historically, Jiading was a separate municipality/town, until, in 1958, becoming under the administration of Shanghai. In 1993, Jiading's designate ...

. The liquid fuel ("LF") design is based on the 1960s

Molten-Salt Reactor Experiment The Molten-Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE) was an experimental molten salt reactor research reactor at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). This technology was researched through the 1960s, the reactor was constructed by 1964, it went critica ...

Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is a U.S. multiprogram science and technology national laboratory sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and administered, managed, and operated by UT–Battelle as a federally funded research and ...

in the US. The TMSR project is led by Xu Hongjie (徐洪杰), who previously headed the construction of the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility. The site selected for the TMSR-LF1 is part of an

industrial park An industrial park (also known as industrial estate, trading estate) is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development. An industrial park can be thought of as a more "heavyweight" version of a business park or office park, ...

in a sparsely populated, arid region. Construction began in September 2018 and was expected to finish in August 2021, with testing to follow. In August 2022, the Chinese

Ministry of Ecology and Environment The Ministry of Ecology and Environment, formerly the Ministry of Environmental Protection of the People's Republic of China, and prior to 2008 known as the State Environmental Protection Administration, is a department of the State Council of t ...

informed SINAP that its commissioning plan for the LF1 had been approved.

Specifications

The TMSR-LF1 is a

Generation IV reactor Generation IV reactors (Gen IV) are six nuclear reactor designs recognized by the Generation IV International Forum. The designs target improved safety, sustainability, efficiency, and cost. The most developed Gen IV reactor design is the sodium ...

being constructed with the following specifications: * Thermal power: 2MW * Fuel salt:

FLiBe FLiBe is a molten salt made from a mixture of lithium fluoride (LiF) and beryllium fluoride (BeF2). It is both a nuclear reactor coolant and solvent for fertile or fissile material. It served both purposes in the Molten-Salt Reactor Experiment ...

(>99.95% Li-7) with

fluoride Fluoride (). According to this source, is a possible pronunciation in British English. is an inorganic, monatomic anion of fluorine, with the chemical formula (also written ), whose salts are typically white or colorless. Fluoride salts typ ...

s of

zirconium Zirconium is a chemical element with the symbol Zr and atomic number 40. The name ''zirconium'' is taken from the name of the mineral zircon, the most important source of zirconium. The word is related to Persian '' zargun'' (zircon; ''zar-gun'', ...

uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...

( HALEU: 19.75% U-235), and

thorium Thorium is a weakly radioactive metallic chemical element with the symbol Th and atomic number 90. Thorium is silvery and tarnishes black when it is exposed to air, forming thorium dioxide; it is moderately soft and malleable and has a high me ...

** inlet temperature: 630 °C ** outlet temperature: 650 °C ** volume: 1.68 m³ ** flow rate: ~50 kg/s * Coolant salt: FLiBe ** inlet temperature: 560 °C ** outlet temperature: 580 °C ** flow rate: ~42 kg/s * Cover gas:

Argon Argon is a chemical element with the symbol Ar and atomic number 18. It is in group 18 of the periodic table and is a noble gas. Argon is the third-most abundant gas in Earth's atmosphere, at 0.934% (9340 ppmv). It is more than twice as abu ...

(0.05 MPa) ** volume: 1.6 m³ * Moderator:

nuclear graphite Nuclear graphite is any grade of graphite, usually synthetic graphite, manufactured for use as a moderator or reflector within a nuclear reactor. Graphite is an important material for the construction of both historical and modern nuclear reacto ...

* Structural Material: UNS N10003

superalloy A superalloy, or high-performance alloy, is an alloy with the ability to operate at a high fraction of its melting point. Several key characteristics of a superalloy are excellent mechanical strength, resistance to thermal creep deformation, g ...

* Lifetime: 10 years ** Equivalent full power days: 300 ** Max full power days per year: 60

Future plans

Scaled-up commercial reactors based on the LF1 are likely in the 2030s in central and western China, and may also be built outside China in

Belt and Road Initiative The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI, or B&R), formerly known as One Belt One Road ( zh, link=no, 一带一路) or OBOR for short, is a global infrastructure development strategy adopted by the Chinese government in 2013 to invest in nearly 150 ...

nations; as

low-carbon power Low-carbon power is electricity produced with substantially lower greenhouse gas emissions than conventional fossil fuel power generation. The energy transition to low-carbon power is one of the most important actions required to limit climate ...

plants, they would help to achieve the Chinese government's 2060 goal of

carbon neutrality Carbon neutrality is a state of net-zero carbon dioxide emissions. This can be achieved by balancing emissions of carbon dioxide with its removal (often through carbon offsetting) or by eliminating emissions from society (the transition to the "p ...

References

Notes

the LF1 reactor is sited within an industrial park located in Hongshagang (town), Minqin (county), Wuwei (prefecture),

Gansu Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibet ...

(province),

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. As per official documentation, the TMSR-LF1 site is located at 38°57'31" N, 102°36'55" E. However, due to the China GPS shift problem, the location using Western GPS coordinates is about 38°57'36" N, 102°36'43" E (approximately a third of a kilometer offset).

External links

Molten Salt Reactors
("China's dual programme" section) from the

World Nuclear Association World Nuclear Association is the international organization that promotes nuclear power and supports the companies that comprise the global nuclear industry. Its members come from all parts of the nuclear fuel cycle, including uranium mining, ur ...

IAEA The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was established in 1957 ...

br>Research Reactor Database
See TMSR-LF1 entry (CN0021) {{Nuclear fission reactors Buildings and structures in Gansu Molten salt reactors Nuclear technology in China