Thorium and Fast Neutron Nuclear Reactors

Today we are discussing Generation IV nuclear reactors and the prospect of Thorium fuels and Fast Neutron reactors.

Special thanks to Ludovic Mathieu, LP2i Bordeaux (CNRS and Univ. of Bordeaux laboratory) for answering many of my questions and helping clear up uncertainties.

Thanks again to William Norberg for making the custom intro.

Sources:
3D Models:

Resources:

[stickynorth]

Shocked but not shocked that financing/interest costs are overwhelmingly the largest barrier to new nuclear. Maybe we need a global non-profit nuclear corporation to be created that can roll out advanced nuclear to where it's needed first, coal-intensive countries that need to rapidly shift their power production to carbon free...? ;-)

[gabedarrett]

I can't describe how exciting it was to find you doing a video on thorium reactors! Very few people explain things as easily as you do

[killcat]

One thing people do is often conflate molten salt reactors with Thorium fueled reactors, MSR's can run with any fissile fuel, including U235 and Plutonium, we could run them with "spent" nuclear fuel to breed Plutonium.

[friendlyoldpieceofapoppedp]

The thing is, nuclear waste is already an extremely low concern. It’s really not that bad and only creates problems on rare occasions. We should work towards more energy efficient reactors, not waste efficient ones.

[jkadofo]

Looks like someone improved his 3D modelling skills again 😄. Thanks for the informative video

[curiodyssey]

Hes back. And just when we needed him most

[andydrews]

You are a pillar in the YouTube scientific community. Thank you for putting these videos out.

[TBJ]

Your channel deserves so much more recognition. Thanks!

[ancientneophyte]

Excellent explanation on fast neutrons. First time I heard of Pa233. Thanks for your work on this!

[Scrogan]

You forgot to mention that, while they use slow neutrons, thorium breeders produce significantly less high-level waste just due to their lower atomic mass. And using fast neutron reactors to burn high-level waste is promising also.

[Graywolf]

Note about 10:00 in: if you're already experiencing problems with reactor core coolant being exposed to air ... dissolving your fuel into that coolant will result in radionuclides being exposed to open air -- ie. your coolant is now radioactive.

[tiespijnaker]

Elysium Industries molten salt fast reactor is the greatest reactor i have seen around. Please look it up. Its brilliant.

[magnopere]

these videos are incredible. I have no background in any of this but you explain it very well. The animations look so good and are very helpful

[MrRedwires]

Thank you so much for this video! It gave a great introduction to the topic for those that don't quite know it well, but had some very useful insights into the deeper mechanics, such as the absorption/fission ratios!
I am interning at the Wendelstein Fusion plant, and a lot of what I can see there is telling me that it just won't be ready in time to have a meaningful impact. Your video has sparked interest in me to pursue MSRs as a potential career path again, because it sounds MUCH more feasible to extract the Pa-233 from the salts than to ever get fusion to work.
And goodness we need new energy sources ASAP...

[adrianmoisa]

It's been a while! Great to see a new episode from one of the greatest channels!

[andrewvaala]

Amazing video on thorium nuclear energy. Thank you.

[nibiruresearch]

Thank you for all this important information and the nice animations that make it better to understand. Within a few years we will know a lot more because many different ideas are studied and treid out for example in Canada.

[csldrsharkey]

Best science channel ever, and good to see the quality of your videos are improving as well

[stanyeaman]

The Experimental Fast Breeder Reactor at Dounreay on the north coast of Scotland was built in the 1960s and operated until the 20s. It takes non-fissile U238 and turned it into Pu239, plutonium, which is highly fissile. Natural uranium 6:59 ore, as mined, is only about 0.5% fissile U235, and about 99.5% non-fissile U238. This fast reactor created about 900times more energy than an ordinary U235 reactor. This means the world has huge potential nuclear resources by using the fast reactor process. The waste from this process is negligible.

[CraftyFX]

11:18-11:50 and that is ladies and gentlemen one of the simplest inditement of capitalism. Very clear, societal goals will always be an afterthought to the profit motive. It's a great video btw accurate to the details and explains it quite well to the layman.
One more thing, as far as I know at least in the case of a LFTR the plan is to use fluoride volatility for the seperation of Pa from U due to the fact that uranium has higher oxidation states available while Protactinium does not, and they also have a significant difference in phase state under chemical processing conditions (protactinium tetrafluoride is liquid while the uranuim hexafluoride is a gas at that temperature and pressure) which makes the separation a somewhat simple process.