Moltex SSR (Stable Salt Reactors) a Roadmap to Thorium @ ThEC2018

Timecode index...
00:00 I'm Adam from Moltex
00:48 Moltex technology portfolio
01:20 Preconceptual idea for Aircraft Reactor was salt in fuel pins
02:07 Rapid deployment - avoid hardest regulatory hurdles
02:50 Gigawatt scale
03:29 first-of-kind MSR technology investable by private industry
04:40 3 variants of fuel cycle: SSR-W, SSR-U, SSR-Th
05:25 Grid reserve - act as a peaking plant like a CCGT
06:37 WATSS - WAste To Stable Salt
07:10 Moltex company background - founded in 2014
08:05 Activities in UK - AMR Feasibility Study
09:07 Activities in Canada - Vendor Design Review
10:13 MOU with New Brunswick Power (Canada) Pilot SSR
11:42 SSR-W (Stable Salt Reactor Waste Burner)
14:20 SSR-U (Stable Salt Reactor 5% low-enriched Uranium)
15:51 SSR-Th (Stable Salt Reactor Thorium breeder)
16:54 Deployment Roadmap - requires a mix of all 3 reactors

SSR-W:
- Fast-spectrum Wasteburner fuelled by Pu from spent fuel.
- Molten chloride salt fuel, NaCl-AnCl3 fueled.
- Primary coolant is NaF-KF-ZrF4.
- WATSS (Waste to Stable Salt) recovers An/Ln from spent oxide fuel liabilities.
- Core modules contain reactor core components inc pumps and heat exchangers.
- SSR-W1000 is identical design with more modules in a longer tank.
- 525-630C.

SSR-U:
- Low Enriched Uranium Burner (~5%).
- Molten UFx salt fuel.
- Adopts current water reactor fuel cycle infrastructure.
- Design heavily-related to SSR-W.
- Larger core volume than SSR-W.
- 600-700C+.

SSR-Th:
- Thorium Breeder.
- Molten UFx salt fuel.
- Thorium-based coolant supplants the zirconium-based coolant.
- Fertile primary coolant NaF-ThF4.
- Bismuth extraction column extracts Pa/U into a U238 diluent.
- ~5% U233 alloy is processed back into stable salt fuel.
- 650-750C+.

Moltex was founded in 2014 by Dr. Ian Scott, and was privately funded until 2018. Moltex's mission is: "To enable low cost clean energy as a practical economic solution."

On 2018-07-13, Memorandum of Understanding announced with New Brunswick Power and NB Government to build, own and operate a SSR-W300, with New Brunswick and Moltex each funding CAD $5,000,000 towards development. Moltex Energy’s North American headquarters is in Saint John, NB.

Moltex is currently part way through Phase 1 of 2 of Canadian Vendor Design Review.

Notes to self: Presented 20181029. Video edit 4k cbr99k v20190529a.

[ENR]

Really liking the picture-in-picture footage. Great job Gordon at clearly showing the speaker and slide show!

[gordonmcdowell]

Timecode index
...
00:00 I'm Adam from Moltex
00:48 Moltex technology portfolio
01:20 Preconceptual idea for Aircraft Reactor was salt in fuel pins
02:07 Rapid deployment - avoid hardest regulatory hurdles
02:50 Gigawatt scale
03:29 first-of-kind MSR technology investable by private industry
04:40 3 variants of fuel cycle: SSR-W, SSR-U, SSR-Th
05:25 Grid reserve - act as a peaking plant like a CCGT
06:37 WATSS - WAste To Stable Salt
07:10 Moltex company background - founded in 2014
08:05 Activities in UK - AMR Feasibility Study
09:07 Activities in Canada - Vendor Design Review
10:13 MOU with New Brunswick Power (Canada) Pilot SSR
11:42 SSR-W (Stable Salt Reactor Waste Burner)
14:20 SSR-U (Stable Salt Reactor 5% low-enriched Uranium)
15:51 SSR-Th (Stable Salt Reactor Thorium breeder)
16:54 Deployment Roadmap - requires a mix of all 3 reactors

[andrew]

Thanks Gordon. Moltex is doing brilliantly IMO, and it's really interesting that New Brunswick will be pioneering Moltex's SSR-W - the first ever wasteburner. I like their thorium cycle proposal as well. I'd love to see more of the startups talking about their business models.

[hjembrentkent]

The problem is not the technology, we need to change public opinion. I am very interested in ideas.

[Phil]

FINALLY SOMETHING COOL IS HAPPENING IN THE MARITIMES!!!!

[millenniumman]

Moltex has one of the best fast reactors I have seen: great for burning waste, burning conventional LEU, and breeding U-233 from Thorium (which we will need a lot of in the future to deal with the burgeoning fleets of new thermal spectrum reactors). It's design is simple and economical, very few moving parts that are prone to wear and replacement. No meltdown risk with very high proliferation resistance. I hope Moltex can work with the US. We would like Moltex's here.

[MikelSyn]

woah.. Their designs appear to have changed drastically since the last time I saw their presentation. They're bringing back thermal spectrum into their reactors. It seems that MSR companies tend to start off quite different, but end up converging to LEU thermal burners, as with Thorcon, and now Moltex.

[MostlyPennyCat]

SSR is one of the most beautiful pieces of engineering that I've ever seen
It absolutely deserves to dominate the next century's energy production

And not just energy production, but water desalination and zero carbon hydrogen production.

I hope and dream that that they get the money they need, the support they need and they are the first grid connected SMR

[gordonmcdowell]

Moltex receives U.S. Department of Energy funding to help commercialise and scale up Stable Salt Reactor Wasteburner

[Gian]

Why is Italy not in any of the envisioned SSR markets?

[Gustav]

more and more companies coming up with different ways of using thorium in reactors right?

[davidwilkie]

Counting the beans and fitting the tech to a genuine customer who needs it, whether or not they know it, is the real business.
By "genuine customer" I mean everyone needs to switch over yesterday, but that's not possible, the use of 15th generation Nuclear Power Plants In Submarines is a clear illustration of the tech existing, but it is being used for the high end of required Defence purposes only, same goes for Medical Disease Prevention strategies and so on. The Military mindset is already decided on their purpose, it's been done before, setting the Civilian population back on their feet after the catastrophic failures of "market systems".

[leerman]

If you have a fast spectrum waste burner (I'm assuming the breeding ratio can be high with fertile coolant salt) what good is the LEU or thorium reactor variants?

[babyelian]

I don' t understand how you can switch from a fast reactor to a graphite moderator one with the same core design...

[Rossoconero]

That s the way to go. New stable, safe, nuclear+renewables and electrify as possible transportation. Impossibility of meltdown, no explosion of radioactive gases as being atmospheric.

[eldencw]

Can I buy "FLUID FUEL REACTORS" or similar book on Audible or other audio book format? (I've been driving allot lately)

[Saiphes]

Hey, thanks for all you do. Can you sync your channel to LBRY?

[MrVaticanRag]

Boring preamble blowing own trumpet on activities - did they use liquid fuel? I almost gave up - best skip first 10:15min lol.

[adamdanilowicz]

He looks like Harvey Spectre, from the show Suits.

[MostlyPennyCat]

So, they breed fuel from Thorium mixed in the primary coolant?
It's not in the fuel tubes?
Do I have that right?