Worldwide Efforts to Develop Molten-Salt Reactorsand Thorium Fuel Cycles

WORLDWIDE EFFORTS TO DEVELOP MOLTEN-SALT REACTORSAND THORIUM FUEL CYCLES

June 23, 2014

Flibe Energy, Inc. PO Box 5952 Huntsville, Alabama, USA (256) 679-9985 info@ﬂibe-energy.com Contents

1 Introduction5

I Asia6

2 India 7 2.1 The Three-Stage Plan...... 7 2.2 Progress Along the Three-Stage Plan...... 10 2.3 Molten-Salt Breeder Reactors for the Third Stage...... 12 2.4 Progress Towards High-Temperature Reactors...... 13 2.5 Indian Experience with Thorium Fuels...... 14 2.6 Conclusions and Insights...... 15 2.7 References...... 15

3 China 16 3.1 TMSR Effort at SINAP...... 16 3.2 Conclusion...... 23 3.3 References...... 23

4 Japan 24 4.1 Japan Atomic Energy Agency...... 24 4.2 International Thorium Energy & Molten Salt Technology Inc...... 24 4.3 Conclusions and Insights...... 25 4.4 References...... 26

5 South Korea 27 5.1 Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology...... 27 5.2 Conclusions and Insights...... 28 5.3 References...... 28

6 Singapore 29 6.1 Singapore Nuclear Research and Safety Initiative...... 29 6.2 References...... 29

7 Russia 30 7.1 References...... 30

II Europe 31

8 Europe 32 8.1 European Union EVOL Project...... 32 8.2 France...... 32 8.3 Norway...... 33

1 8.3.1 Thor Energy...... 33 8.4 Czech Republic...... 33 8.5 CERN...... 34 8.6 References...... 34

9 United Kingdom 35 9.1 References...... 36

III Americas 37

10 Canada 38 10.1 Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd...... 38 10.2 Terrestrial Energy Inc...... 38 10.3 Thorium Power Canada...... 39 10.4 References...... 39

11 United States 40 11.1 Lightbridge (formerly Thorium Power)...... 40 11.2 Flibe Energy...... 40 11.3 Transatomic Power...... 41 11.4 Fluoride High-Temperature Reactor Consortium...... 41 11.5 Texas A&M University, Dr. Peter McIntyre...... 42 11.6 References...... 42

12 Latin America 42 12.1 Mexico...... 42 12.2 Venezuela...... 42 12.3 Brazil...... 42

IV Africa, Middle East, Australia 43

13 Middle East and North Africa (MENA) 44 13.1 Turkey...... 44 13.2 United Arab Emirates...... 44 13.3 Saudi Arabia...... 46 13.4 Jordan...... 46 13.5 References...... 47

14 South Africa 48 14.1 Steenkampskraal Thorium Limited...... 48

15 Australia 48 15.1 Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation...... 48

2 V Conclusions 49

3 List of Figures

1 Indian nuclear power plants operating or under construction...... 8 2 Indian nuclear power plants planned...... 9 3 Indian Advanced Heavy-Water Reactor (AHWR)...... 11 4 Indian AHWR Speciﬁcations...... 12 5 Indian Innovative High-Temperature Reactor (IHTR)...... 14 6 Chinese TMSR designs and objectives...... 17 7 Chinese TMSR inputs, processing, and products...... 18 8 Chinese TMSR developmental timeline...... 19 9 Chinese TMSR technology milestones...... 20 10 Chinese TMSR staff structure...... 21 11 Chinese TMSR organizational chart...... 22 12 Japanese strategy for P-T of nuclear waste using MSR...... 25 13 Canadian concept for oil sands recovery using SAGD technology...... 38 14 Turkish thorium/rare-earth mining site...... 44 15 UAE reactor construction at Barakah site...... 45

4 Worldwide Efforts to Develop Molten-Salt Reactors and Thorium Fuel Cycles

Kirk Sorensen

June 23, 2014

1 Introduction

Molten salt reactors (MSRs) are attracting signiﬁcant interest worldwide for a range of applications, including implementation of the thorium fuel cycle for electricity generation, actinide recycling, and thermochemical hydrogen production. Beginning in 2001, the Generation-IV Inter- national Forum (GIF), comprising over 100 experts from a dozen countries, evaluated 130 reactor concepts and designated six reactor technologies as Generation-IV designs for further international research and development. The goal of the GIF members is development of reactors that will use fuel more efﬁciently, reduce waste production, be economically competitive, and meet stringent standards of safety and proliferation resistance. MSRs were selected as one of the six Gen-IV concepts with the potential to meet these goals and are of particular interest for their potential to implement the thorium fuel cycle in the thermal spectrum. At the most recent International Thorium Energy Committee (IThEC) conference held at CERN, international interest in the thorium fuel cycle and molten salt reactors drew 200 researchers from over 30 countries. At the conference, six national thorium and MSR programs were announced or reviewed, including those of: India, China, France, Norway and the European Union. Each of these national efforts is addressed below, followed by discussion of other international and private thorium and MSR efforts.

5 Part I Asia

6 2 India

In any discussion about thorium, India deserves special consideration as a nation due to its long- standing commitment to using thorium as a nuclear fuel. To understand the Indian relationship with thorium nuclear fuel, a degree of historical context is necessary. India has suffered antagonistic relationships with its neighbors Pakistan and China for many decades. The Chinese development of nuclear weapons in the 1960s spurred a similar development in India. This "tit-for-tat" approach to nuclear weapons development was precisely what the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1970 sought to avoid, by committing non-weapons states (countries that did not possess nuclear weapons) to eschew developing them in exchange for access to nuclear technology. But the NNPT "grandfathered" in as "weapons states" those countries that had already developed nuclear weapons at the time of its development, and China, along with the US, France, Britain, and the Soviet Union, was among them. India did not elect to sign the NNPT and detonated its ﬁrst nuclear weapon in 1974, after the treaty had gone into effect. In so doing, India became a "nuclear pariah" among the nations that signed the NNPT, forbidden from participating in technology exchange until it relinquished its weapons and signed the treaty. India, seeing itself as vulnerable to nuclear-armed neighbors, refused to sign the treaty unless it was granted the status of "weapons state" like its neighbor China. The international community refused, not wanting to let a country enter the treaty as a weapons state after the treaty had gone into effect. The effect of this stalemate was that Indians were cut off from world nuclear technologies for many decades, and had to develop an indigineous nuclear program in almost complete isolation.

2.1 The Three-Stage Plan

Compounding India’s difficulties was its relatively limited supply of uranium. If the uranium was used in the manner that nearly all of the world did—that is to say, with only the small amount of uranium-235 consumed from the fuel—then India’s nuclear energy prospects were poor indeed. So Indian leaders developed a strategy they called the "three-stage plan" that they have followed ever since. The three-stage plan begins with uranium, and specifically the small amount of fissile uranium-235 present in natural uranium. If one means to use uranium in its natural state, that is to say, without any isotopic enrichment, then nuclear reactor options are rather limited. Only a thermal-spectrum reactor, using heavy water or purified graphite as a moderator material, can enable a critical nuclear fission reaction with natural uranium. All of the first reactors in countries around the world took this approach, typically to manufacture plutonium for nuclear weapons. Lacking access to enriched uranium, the first stage of the Indian plan involves using natural uranium dioxide fuel in heavy-water reactors similar to those developed in Canada (CANDU reactors). Most of the existing fleet of Indian reactors are uranium-fueled, heavy-water reactors. In these reactors, uranium-235 is consumed at relatively high efficiency, and excess neutrons from the fission reaction generate plutonium-239 in the 99.3% of the uranium that is fertile uranium-238.

7 Figure 1: Nuclear power plants operating or under construction in India. Image courtesy World Nuclear Association.

Plutonium can be chemically separated from uranium, which is much more straightforward than isotopic separation techniques used to separate uranium-235 from uranium-238. One might consider stage one of the Indian plan as: convert the small amount of uranium-235 in natural uranium, which is chemically inseparable, into plutonium, which is chemically separable. That is

8 Figure 2: Planned nuclear power plants in India. Image courtesy World Nuclear Association. not actually what happens—uranium-235 does not become plutonium—but the effect of the ﬁssion of the uranium-235 is to generate the neutrons that change uranium-238 into plutonium. Plutonium is superior fuel to uranium in fast-breeder reactors, because when struck by the fast neutrons in those reactors plutonium will generate more neutrons from ﬁssion than uranium will. In fact, fast-spectrum breeder reactors even offer the possibility of a "breeding gain" during the

9 reaction, in other words, the ability to generate even more fissile material than is consumed by the reactor. This attractive feature of the fast breeder is countered by the very unattractive feature that a fast breeder must carry far more fuel, for a given thermal power rating, than a thermal-spectrum reactor. This is because nuclear reactions are far less likely to occur from fast neutrons than thermal neutrons. Nevertheless, because of India’s need to amplify its fissile material inventory, the second stage of the plan is to use plutonium fuel in fast breeder reactor to generate more plutonium from uranium, and uranium-233 from thorium. This stage of the Indian nuclear plan could be considered a fissile amplification stage, using fast breeder reactor technology. There are several possible variants of fast-breeder reactors to consider, but the Indian program chose to utilize the liquid-sodium-metal-cooled fast-breeder, using uranium-plutonium oxide fuel, as the technology for the second stage. The irradiated oxide fuel would be chemically processed using the aqueous techniques (PUREX) that have been most commonly used in the world for weapons programs. The third stage of the Indian program would utilize the superior performance of uranium- 233 fuel again in thermal spectrum reactors to achieve a breakeven breeding ratio. In this manner, the fissile material becomes a sort of "nuclear catalyst" for the consumption of thorium for energy. Again, although several technologies might accomplish this goal, the reactor type most favored is a heavy-water reactor using mixed thorium dioxide/uranium dioxide fuel. Chem- ical reprocessing of the fuel would be accomplished using the THOREX technique, analogous to PUREX.

2.2 Progress Along the Three-Stage Plan

Indian progress on the three-stage plan has been slow. As of 2014 they have built 18 heavy-water reactors using natural uranium dioxide fuel with a power generation potential of 10 GWe. This represents the first stage, where uranium-235 is consumed and plutonium is generated. The second stage has had a slow rollout, with the construction of a 500-MWe prototype sodium-cooled fast breeder reactor (PFBR) at Kalpakkam. The fast-breeders will ultimately need to constitute the bulk of the Indian nuclear fleet in order to achieve the goal of fissile amplification demanded by the second stage. Progress on the third stage has been helped by its similarity to the heavy-water reactors of the first stage, although in the third stage the heavy-water reactors will operate with uranium-233 as the fissile material rather than the small amount of uranium-235 present in natural uranium. Thorium has a number of important advantages as a fuel form in a heavy-water reactor. It is relatively inert, having only one valence state, unlike uranium which has two and oxidizes easily upon exposure to air or water. This limits the cracking potential of solid thorium dioxide fuel. Tho- rium dioxide also has higher thermal conductivity than uranium dioxide, lowering the centerline temperature of the fuel for a given power rating and geometry, or potentially allowing for a fuel pin with a larger cross-sectional area. The fission gas release rate in thorium dioxide is also an order-of-magnitude lower than in uranium dioxide.

10 Figure 3: Advanced Heavy-Water Reactor using thorium-uranium-plutonium fuel for sustained consumption of thorium.

There are a number of challenges with the use of thorium dioxide fuel in the third stage of the In- dian program. One of the most important is the challenge of chemically processing thorium dioxide fuel. The same chemical inertness that makes it attractive in the reactor makes it very challenging to process. It does not dissolve easily in nitric acid like uranium dioxide fuel does. Thorium fuels also generate small amounts of uranium-232 along with uranium-233, and the decay products of uranium-232 are highly radioactive. This leads to substantial challenges in the chemical processing of thorium fuels and fabrication of uranium fuels that have any level of uranium-232 contamination in them. Protactinium-233, the intermediate decay product in the irradiation of thorium, has a half-life of 27 days. This is sufficiently long that it represents a challenge in solid-fuel processing, requiring the spent fuel to be aged sufficiently for the Pa-233 to decay to uranium-233. Processing irradiated fuel too early leads to fissile loss as undecayed protactinium is disposed rather than transferred into the new fuel form.

11 Figure 4: Speciﬁcations for Advanced Heavy-Water Reactor.

2.3 Molten-Salt Breeder Reactors for the Third Stage

India does not anticipate needing many reactors for the third stage of their plan until after 2040, because of the need to build many fast breeder reactors to amplify their fissile supply of plutonium and uranium-233. In their long-range plan (after 2070) the reactor types of the third-stage will come to be the dominant type in their plan. In the last several years there has been renewed consideration of molten-salt reactors as an alternative to heavy-water, solid-fueled reactors as the reactor type for the third stage. Molten-salt reactors solve many of the issues that would be more challenging for the reactor types of the third stage. In particular, • they eliminate the need for solid fuel fabrication, a challenge for fuels containing uranium- 233 because of highly-radioactive daughter products of uranium-232, an inevitable contam- inant; • they facilitate the chemical processing of the reactor to separate fission products from nuclear fuel since thorium tetrafluoride does not need to be converted to another chemical state in

12 order to be processed; • the half-life issue of protactinium-233 can be mitigated by holding Pa-233 in a tank and simply removing uranium as it is formed by decay, minimizing fissile loss; • they operate at high temperature, enhancing thermal efficiency and potentially generating liquid fuels; • they operate at low pressure and have enhanced safety features, such as the draining of fuel from the core in the event of a loss of power. In early 2013, India held its first molten salt conference at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in Mumbai, revealing a surprising level of interest and activity in molten salt research. The scope of the conference included topics such as molten salt breeder reactors, thorium utilization, molten salt chemistry, materials issues, physics and design aspects, reprocessing challenges, pyrochemical processing, molten salts in the back end of the fuel cycle (reprocessing and waste management issues), and electrochemical aspects of molten salt reprocessing of nuclear fuels. At the ThEC2013 conference in October 2013 in Geneva, Anil Kakodkar of BARC reaffirmed that MSBRs will be part of India’s third stage of ongoing thorium efforts. He mentioned that India had a molten-salt reactor effort in the early 1970s but that it was abandoned around the same time that the US effort was abandoned. The advantage of molten-salt reactors for the third stage of India’s nuclear plan make them attractive, but the third stage is many years away. Because of the delayed need for the technology in the minds of Indian power planners, research activities on molten-salt reactors are currently very limited. A corrosion test loop using LiF-NaF-KF is operating to test materials specimens.

2.4 Progress Towards High-Temperature Reactors

If the molten-salt reactor is chosen for the third stage, India will need greater experience in high temperature reactors. To that end, two reactors are planned that will enhance Indian experience in high-temperature reactors. The ﬁrst is called the Compact High-Temperature Reactor (CHTR). It have a power rating of only 100 kWt but will operate at temperatures of up to 1000◦C, using TRISO-coated particle fuel and lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE) coolant. Beryllium oxide will serve as the moderator material, and the emphasis for the design will be on the passive removal of decay heat by natural circulation. Some thought has also been given to using the CHTR design as a "nuclear battery" type reactor that could provide heat and power to remote locations with no grid connection. The second design is called the Innovative High-Temperature Reactor (IHTR) and it is intended for hydrogen production. It is much larger, 600 MWt and also uses TRISO-coated particle fuel, but this time with the fuel in a pebble-bed arrangement and with liquid-ﬂuoride salt as the coolant. Its high temperature indicates that its primary mission would be hydrogen generation, but it would also generate a small amount of electrical power (18 MWe). Current research to support these efforts focuses on the development of TRISO-coated fuels and the materials needed for reactor fabrication, including beryllium oxide, graphite, and metallic

13 Figure 5: Innovative High-Temperature Reactor (IHTR) for commercial hydrogen production. structural materials. Thermal-hydraulic investigations of lead-bismuth-eutectic coolant are also ongoing.

2.5 Indian Experience with Thorium Fuels

In support of their three-stage plan, India has been irradiating thorium dioxide fuel pellets since the 1960s in a variety of research and test reactors. In the upcoming FBTR at Kalpakkam they also plan to irradiate test assemblies of uranium dioxide (consisting primarily of U-233) and mixed-oxide fuel (MOX) which consists of plutonium and uranium. Three PHWR stations at Kakrapar, Kaiga, and Rajasthan have irradiated a total of 232 thorium bundles to a maximum discharge burnup of 14,000 MWd/kg.

14 2.6 Conclusions and Insights

India has been distinguished from other nations by their technical isolation on the subject of nuclear energy, and by their determination to undertake a long-term plan to efficiently utilize thorium as an energy resource. In the past several years, agreements have been signed with the US and other countries that may give India access to uranium supplies outside of their country. If this comes to greater fruition, it may diminish the necessity of the three-stage plan, since relatively inexpensive fissile material (in the form of uranium-235 in natural uranium) will become available. This may make existing reactor types such as the light-water reactor more attractive to the Indians and diminish the incentive to develop the fast-breeder to amplify fissile supplies or heavy-water reactors to use natural uranium. The role of the molten-salt reactor is also very uncertain. Further development may lead the Indians to designate it as the representative reactor concept for stage three of their plan, but stage three is considered many decades away. This might lead the Indians to relax their efforts to develop MSRs, but there is also the possibility that Chinese zeal to develop the MSR may hasten India’s involvement. With a huge population that has access to relatively little electrical energy per capita, it is likely that there will be substantial pressure on the Indian government to come up with nearer-term solutions to energy needs, and the three-stage plan may be heavily modified or even abandoned in these circumstances.

2.7 References

1. P.K. Vijayan, I.V. Dulera, P.D. Krishnani, K.K. Vaze, S. Basu and R.K. Sinha, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, "Overview of the Thorium Programme in India," presented at Tho- rium Energy Conference 2013, Geneva, Switzerland, October 27-31, 2013. 2. Piaray Wattal, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, "Recycling Challenges of thorium-based fuels," presented at Thorium Energy Conference 2013, Geneva, Switzerland, October 27-31, 2013. 3. Srinivasan Ganesan, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, "Nuclear Data Development Related to Th-U Fuel Cycle in India," presented at Thorium Energy Conference 2013, Geneva, Switzerland, October 27-31, 2013. 4. World Nuclear Association, "Nuclear Power in India", accessed January 2014.

15 3 China

China has grown quickly and developed a modern industrial economy in the last several decades. But with that growth has come terrible problems with pollution because the growth has been fueled by an increased use of fossil fuels, particularly coal. Coal accounts for 70% of Chinese total energy consumption. Per-capita electrical use in China is also much lower than the developed world; if it were to grow to match the developed world, China would require 3000 GWe of electrical generation capacity. Using current technologies to achieve this level of energy generation using coal would make an already unacceptable level of air pollution even worse. Despite having half the gross domestic product of the United States, China already emits twice the carbon dioxide of the US, indicating that their CO2 emissions, per unit of economic activity, are much greater than other industrialized countries. Future energy needs are also compounded by geographic constraints. Large hydroelectric resources have already been developed in China, and all nuclear power plants are along the coast. But in order to increase power generation capacity in the interior of the country, even greater de- mands on water resources would be made by thermal power plants like coal or conventional (steam- turbine) nuclear. Chinese thermal power plants consumed 102 billion cubic meters of cooling water in 2010 and far more will be needed in the future. A high-temperature reactor option is needed that has the potential to use direct air-cooling rather than to tax existing water resources. Electricity isn’t the only resource that China needs from future energy source. Liquid hydrocarbon fuels and nitrogen fertilizer will be just as important. Both can be synthesized from hydrogen, provided that the hydrogen could be generated at a reasonable price using thermal energy from a high-temperature nuclear reactor. Methanol and dimethyl ether might be important intermediate products. For each of these reasons, Chinese leadership began to consider the thorium-fueled molten-salt reactor as an energy option very seriously in 2010. They designated the Shanghai Institute of Nuclear and Advanced Physics (SINAP) as the group that would develop what they called the Thorium Molten-Salt Reactor, or TMSR. American ofﬁcials were made aware of Chinese interest in MSR technology during a visit to Oak Ridge National Laboratory in October 2010, but it became publicly known in January 2011 when an article on the effort was published in a Chinese-language newspaper. China has held a commanding position in the market for rare-earth materials, and has wisely chosen to stockpile the thorium-rich ore that is inevitably extracted with these rare-earths. This gives China both the resource base and the incentive to move forward with a large-scale effort to utilize thorium for energy.

3.1 TMSR Effort at SINAP

Despite the recent excitement, the TMSR effort was not the first time that SINAP had investigated a molten-salt reactor. An earlier MSR effort had taken place in 1970, when physicists at SINAP had configured an assembly of frozen fluoride salt fuel, reflector material, and metallic structures

16 in order to achieve criticality, albeit at room temperature. Due to materials limitations (essentially a lack of a suitable structural material like Hastelloy N) they were never able to take their critical assembly to a typical operating temperature of an MSR, where the fuel would be liquid. SINAP abandoned the MSR effort and turned their attention to light-water reactor design. Their efforts culminated in China’s first light-water reactor, the 300 MWe reactor at Qinshan, which began operating in 1991. The recent interest in thorium MSR was initiated by Dr. Jiang Mienheng, son of former Chinese premier Jiang Zemin. Dr. Jiang is a graduate of Drexel University and a senior official at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). Dr. Hongjie Xu, a senior official at the CAS, spoke at the ThEC2013 conference in Geneva, where he described Chinese activity in this space. There are two complementary reactor efforts underway at CAS, a solid-fueled, pebble-bed reactor using fluoride salt only as a coolant, and a true molten- salt reactor, with fluoride salts acting as both fuel and coolant. The Chinese call the solid-fueled reactor TMSR-SF and the liquid-fueled reactor TMSR-LF. Both reactors have high temperature objectives, and both plan to use thorium in the fuel. But only the liquid-fueled reactor has the potential to fully utilize thorium.

Figure 6: Both of the TMSR designs (solid- and liquid-fueled) pursued by the CAS have the objectives of producing high-temperature thermal energy and being air-cooled.

17 18

Figure 7: Inputs, processes, products, and outputs of an optimized thorium MSR economy. The solid-fueled TMSR is considered more tractable, from a technology perspective, than the liquid-fueled TMSR. It is essentially a technology integration challenge, and the CAS has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the US Department of Energy to facilitate techno- logical exchange in this space. This earlier work will focus on high-temperature applications such as hydrogen production without carbon emissions.

Figure 8: Major developments for solid and liquid-fueled TMSR designs by date.

In the longer term, the liquid-fueled TMSR assumes a higher priority because of its greater potential beneﬁts. Research priorities for this reactor have been established around the disciplines of molten-salt chemical processing, reactor physics and engineering, materials handling and radio- logical security, and the supporting facilities for this reactor type. Beginning in 2011, the CAS TMSR effort has been funded at a level of approximately US$400M. Anticipating stable funding from the Chinese government throughout the remainder of this decade, this will lead to a 2 MWt demonstration reactor near the end of the decade in the solid-fueled reactor, and another demonstration reactor early in the next decade for a liquid-fueled reactor. Current efforts underway on the TMSR program focus on aspects that are common to both the solid-fueled, salt-cooled, and the true molten-salt reactor program. These include:

• Lithium isotopic separation to prepare reactor-grade LiF-BeF2 • Preparation and puriﬁcation of ﬂuoride salt mixtures • Design and construction of molten-salt loops • Development of key components for molten-salt loops

19 20

Figure 9: Signiﬁcant milestones in the development of the Chinese TMSR program. Figure 10: Staff structure of the TMSR effort. Staff age groups are shown on the left. Most personnel are in their 20s. Education groups are shown on the right.

Materials challenges are a common area to all reactor types that use liquid fluoride salts, and the lack of a suitable structural alloy hampered earlier Chinese efforts on molten-salt reactors. To this end, substantial research is going forward on alloy development and graphite structures. There is also strong interest in the investigation of silicon carbide as a potential high-temperature structural material. Long-term testing in relevant environments will be needed to confirm performance. Fuels preparation is particularly significant for the salt-cooled option, and development of nuclear grade thorium and uranium-oxides for incorporation into TRISO fuel particles is going forward. Preparation of purified thorium tetrafluoride material is also taking place. Chinese officials estimate that the use of both solid- and liquid-fueled MSRs will overlap for many years, with a common focus on high-temperature applications. There is even preliminary consideration of a fast-spectrum molten-salt option for the transmutation of minor actinides from spent nuclear fuel. In his ThEC2013 talk, Dr. Xu alluded to new developments in the organization of their molten-salt effort, and in January 2014, there came the announcement of five innovation centers for research in advanced science and technology fields, one of which would be devoted to thorium molten-salt reactors.

21 22

Figure 11: Organizational chart of the Chinese TMSR effort, showing leadership, divisions, responsibilities, and products. 3.2 Conclusion

The Chinese have arguably the best-funded molten-salt reactor effort in the world and they have put many research scientists and engineers on the project. Their ultimate success is likely. But there are risks to their program that might delay or derail their progress. Their team is young and inexperienced. This will ultimately be overcome, but they are beginning their molten-salt reactor effort essentially from scratch, and are trying to recreate capabilities in China that could have been transferred from the US effort had a closer physical and political relationship existed. As it stands, none of the Oak Ridge MSR retirees have participated in the Chinese development and most are adamantly opposed to doing so. Technology transfer from existing ORNL personnel to their Chinese counterparts is much more limited because of the lack of fresh experience with the technology. The political position of the program is both a strength and a weakness. Dr. Jiang commands signiﬁcant political power, but a realignment of political positions may diminish his ability to steer resources towards this effort. He is also involved in many development projects; these might distract his interest in this effort. Chinese culture discourages the type of risk-taking technology development that is common in US engineering culture. The Chinese appear to be mimicking the design and development of the Molten-Salt Reactor Experiment, even though that design does not represent the next step in technology advancement. Their cautious pace may slow down their schedule to the actual achievement of an affordable industrial thorium molten-salt reactor.

3.3 References

1. Hongjie Xu, Xiangzhou Cai, Wei Guo, Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, "Thorium En- ergy R&D in China," presented at Thorium Energy Conference 2013, Geneva, Switzerland, October 27-31, 2013. 2. Haicheng Wu, China Institute of Atomic Energy, "Nuclear Data Development Related to Th- U Fuel Cycle in China ," presented at Thorium Energy Conference 2013, Geneva, Switzer- land, October 27-31, 2013. 3. World Nuclear Association, "Nuclear Power in China", accessed January 2014.

23 4 Japan

Japan has suffered the greatest upheaval in its nuclear power sector of any nuclear-powered nation since the Great Tohuku Earthquake of March 11, 2011. Many facilities were damaged in the earthquake and the tsunami that followed, most notably the six reactors of the Fukushima-Daiichi plant in eastern Japan. Loss of emergency power led to core damage, hydrogen venting, and release of radionuclides to the environment. Since the earthquake, as each of the nuclear reactors of the Japanese fleet have been shut down for maintenance, their restart has been delayed. This loss of generation capability has led to enormous costs for the nation as they have imported coal, oil, and liquefied natural gas to make up for the power generation loss. The restart of their nuclear reactors remains controversial and a subject of political danger for their elected officials. Developments in thorium and molten-salt reactors in Japan have largely been overshadowed by the aftermath of the Tohuku earthquake.

4.1 Japan Atomic Energy Agency

At the ThEC2013 conference in Geneva, Switzerland, in October 2013, Toshinobu Sasa1 of Japan’s Atomic Energy Agency reported on efforts that were conducted under a working group to examine thorium use in LWRs and FBRs. He reported that the working group had been suspended after the Tohuku earthquake but that it would resume again soon. He also reported that another committee in JAEA was examining molten-salt technology both as a fuel, coolant, and fuel processing medium. Accelerator-driven system (ADS) concepts were also under examination for the destruction of long-lived actinides. One of the strongest arguments for the development of molten-salt reactors may come from the nuclear transmutation community. If Japan elects to use molten-salt reactors to destroy their long- lived minor actinides rather than liquid-sodium-cooled fast breeder reactors such as their experimental Monju reactor, then attention and funding could be directed towards MSR technology. Such a concept is shown in Figure 12. With further funding and attention, it is likely that greater attention to thorium utilization in an MSR will follow.

4.2 International Thorium Energy & Molten Salt Technology Inc.

In 2010, Dr. Kazuo Furukawa and former Senator Keishiro Fukushima announced the formation of a new company called International Thorium Energy & Molten Salt Technology Inc. Com- pany (IThEMS) at the Thorium Energy Conference held in London, England in November 2010. IThEMS was intended to commercialize the Fuji Molten Salt Reactor (Fuji MSR) that Dr. Fu- rukawa had been working on for many decades. The Fuji MSR was a variant of the 1972 ORNL "reference" MSBR, employing a single salt formulation of LiF-BeF2-ThF4-UF4, graphite prismatic blocks for moderation, and steam-turbine power conversion system. But another aspect of the Fuji

1"The Japanese Thorium Programme," presented by Toshinobu Sasa, J-PARC Center, Transmutation Section, Japan Atomic Energy Agency at Thorium Energy Conference 2013 in Geneva, Switzerland on October 28, 2013.

24 Figure 12: Using molten-salt reactor technology for partitioning and transmutation (P-T) of nuclear waste could increase interest in technology development. approach that was novel was the use of a particle accelerator to generate neutrons from spallation that would be used to convert thorium to uranium-233 as starter fuel. This 233U would then be used as the "start charge" in the Fuji, which would operate as an isobreeder. Other possibilities were to use plutonium from spent LWR fuel in Japan as the ﬁssile start, similar to what had been proposed by ORNL during the MSRP. Senator Fukushima proposed an initial investment of $300M USD would be needed to achieve the IThEMS development strategy in the 2010 London conference. It is not known if funds were raised or committed. Dr. Furukawa was advanced in age, and passed away in 2012; Sen. Fukushima is rumored to have moved on to other activities. The current status of IThEMS as an organization is uncertain, although various participants in IThEMS appear to have moved on to other analogous activities in Japan.

4.3 Conclusions and Insights

Before March 2011, Japan might have been one of the most promising places to undertake development of a thorium-fueled molten-salt reactor. They had a strong industrial economy and what seemed to be public committment to and comfortability with nuclear power. But the earthquake has laid bare a relationship between their nuclear utilities and the population and government that

25 might take decades to repair. For this reason Japan would be a greater challenge for an advanced nuclear development in the current political climate than other Paciﬁc Rim nations.

4.4 References

1. Toshinobu Sasa, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, "The Japanese Thorium Programme," presented at Thorium Energy Conference 2013, Geneva, Switzerland, October 27-31, 2013.

26 5 South Korea

South Korea has followed a nuclear development strategy for several decades that has similarities to, but important differences from the strategy followed in Japan. A major difference between South Korea and Japan is that South Korea signed a nuclear cooperation treaty with the United States in 1974 (a "1-2-3" treaty) that forbade their development of uranium enrichment and plutonium reprocessing. This agreement, signed at a time when nuclear non-proliferation was an especially heated issue with the detonation of an Indian nuclear device, has altered the approach that South Korea might have otherwise chosen to nuclear development. South Korea agreed to these concessions in their nuclear development (in contrast to Japan, which has no such restrictions in their technology development) because of their zeal to gain access to American light-water reactor technology for their own national needs. The term of the 1-2-3 agreement is forty years, and it is up for renewal between the US and South Korea. Many aspects have changed in their nuclear strategy since then. First, South Korea has become a signiﬁcant exporter of nuclear technology. They won the tender with the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) of the United Arab Emirates to build four large light-water reactors at the UAE’s site in Barakah. This includes contracts to supply fuel to the four large reactors and to take back spent fuel. These and other export successes may create additional challenges for South Korea. Because they have no uranium enrichment capability, they are completely dependent on countries like the United States for their uranium enrichment. And because they have not been permitted to reprocess spent fuel, nor have they opened a spent fuel repository analogous to Yucca Mountain, their spent fuel situation continues to grow more undesirable. Export successes leading to more uranium enrichment requirements and more spent fuel generation exacerbate these problems. For many years, like most countries, South Korea has focused on the sodium-cooled fast breeder reactor as the next step in their nuclear development beyond light-water reactors. But spent fuel reprocessing is inherent to the use of fast-breeder reactors, and so South Korea’s 1-2-3 agreement with the United States presents a constraint. They are anxious in future negotiations to obtain concession from the US on the exclusion of spent fuel reprocessing from their authorized activities. It is unclear whether the US will grant this concession.

5.1 Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology

Despite the nation-wide interest in sodium fast breeder reactor, one new university sought to take a new direction. Motivated by the recently-published book "SuperFuel" by Rick Martin, in January 2013, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) held a thorium/molten salt reactor conference organized by Dr. Dong-Seong Sohn, in Ulsan, one of Korea’s most industrialized cities. The conference included attendees from Flibe Energy in the United States, France, Russia, Japan, and South Korea. Over several days presentations were given and side discussions were convened to tackle the issues facing South Korea as a whole, and UNIST in particular, as it seeks to differentiate itself as a center of advanced nuclear development.

27 Dr. Sohn said that South Korea needs a future energy system with inherent safety and no spent fuel storage problem. He said that they cannot consider reprocessing as an option at the current time, under the current political administration. Proliferation resistance is a very sensitive issue, and the potential of almost no plutonium production in the thorium fuel cycle is very desirable. Higher efﬁciency and better economics are strongly desired, as well as very high fuel utilization. A reactor of small size, perhaps one that could power a high-speed super tanker, would be desirable. In preparing for the development of MSR technology, there would be a need to setup the necessary tools and systems, such as reactor physics codes and thermal-hydraulics codes. There would also be testing for basic properties—materials compatibility, major safety feature testing, degradation of salts, and testing for liquid fuel performance. There is no experience with liquid fuel, and they desire testing. A feasibility study would consider various possibilities: thermal vs. fast, transmuter vs. self- sustainable, liquid-fuel vs. solid-fuel. The eventual reactor chosen should have inherent safety, no spent fuel storage problem, proliferation resistance, and small size. A three year plan would setup the tools and testing, execute the feasibility study, and continue on into development in the third year. Flibe Energy signed a memoradum of understanding with UNIST during the conference, but there has been little activity since then.

5.2 Conclusions and Insights

South Korea has many challenges before them as they attempt to implement an advanced nuclear reactor technology like a fast-breeder reactor or a thorium molten-salt reactor. They must win concessions from the United States to allow reprocessing or no breeder-type reactor will be possible. They must also align their nuclear research institutions and universities to support this effort. If they continue to elect to pursue the fast-breeder, little realignment is needed; if they pursue the thorium molten-salt reactor, substantial realignment will be needed. Thus far, the US has not been moved by arguments about the type of reprocessing the South Koreans envision (pyroprocessing vs. conventional aqueous processing) so there is little reason to think that a commitment to a molten-salt reactor would change the US stance on this issue. If the 1-2-3 agreement is negotiated with the same restrictions in place, it is unlikely that either a fast-breeder or a thorium reactor effort will go forward in South Korea.

5.3 References

1. Dong-Seong Sohn, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, "Preliminary Plan for Thorium MSR Technology Development," presented at International Workshop of Tho- rium Molten Salt Reactor, Ulsan, South Korea, January 29-30, 2013.

28 6 Singapore

Singapore is an island nation at the tip of the Malay Peninsula with a land area of only 716 square kilometers and a population of 5.4 million people. Their strategic location coupled with their striv- ing, innovative culture has led them to one of the highest per capita GDP in the world. Singapore has no nuclear industry and imports all of their energy as natural gas from their neighbors Malaysia and Indonesia. This is an undesirable situation for the modern and growing Paciﬁc nation. Conventional nuclear power plants have been considered and rejected in Singapore. If there is to be nuclear power there, it will have to involve innovative technology. To that end, government institutions in Singapore, primarily the National Research Foundation, have been quietly exploring the potential of thorium molten-salt reactors to provide the energy and fresh water that Singapore will need. The discussions are still in a very preliminary stage, but Singapore has the need, the capital, and the resources to make a large-scale commitment to the development of thorium molten- salt reactors.

6.1 Singapore Nuclear Research and Safety Initiative

On April 23, 2014, the NRF announced the formation of a new organization, the Singapore Nuclear Research and Safety Initiative (SNSRI), which will be funded by an appropriation of S$63M over the next ﬁve years. The SNSRI will focus on developing Singaporean capability in the areas of radiochemistry, radiobiology, and risk assessment, with the goal of preparing ten students each year in these ﬁelds.

6.2 References

1."Singapore Nuclear Research and Safety Initiative to be hosted at NUS," NRF press release, Singapore, April 23, 2014.

29 7 Russia

Russia had a molten salt reactor research program in the late 1970s at the Kurchatov Institute, with a focus on the investigation of mechanical, corrosion and radiation properties of molten salt container materials. The Kurchatov Institute now participates in the Gen-4 International Forum and has developed a concept called the Molten Salt Advanced Reactor Transmuter (MOSART), a single-fluid MSR with different compositions of plutonium and minor actinides from LWR spent fuel without U-Th support. Since the MOSART program has similar aims, it has joined the EU fast MSR development effort within the EVOL project. Ongoing Russian MSR research includes corrosion tests of Ni-W-Cr alloys in convective loops as well as actinides solubilities in salts (PuF3). The Kurchatov Institute has also developed a salt-cooled pebble bed concept, the Microfuel Molten Salt Cooled Reactor of Low Power or "MARS." MARS has a 16 MWt output and employs spher- ical fuel elements similar to those in the PBMR, is a factory-assembled design meant for au- tonomous power and cogeneration needs in remote areas. It can produce up to 6 MWe of electricity along with providing energy for process heat, district heating, or desalination/water purifica- tion. While yet unconfirmed, Russia has reportedly requested to add MSR technology exchange to US- Russia bilateral nuclear agreements.

7.1 References

1. Victor V. Ignatiev, Kurchatov Institute, "Molten salt actinide recycler & transforming system," presented at International Workshop of Thorium Molten Salt Reactor, Ulsan, South Korea, January 29-30, 2013.

30 Part II Europe

31 8 Europe

8.1 European Union EVOL Project

In 2010 the EU commission funded the EVOL project (Evaluation and Viability of Liquid Fuel Fast Reactor System). The EVOL project is currently focused on development of fast spectrum (unmoderated) molten salt reactors for transmuting major actinides, or "actinide burning." EVOL includes about a dozen EU research institutes working together within the Euroatom organization. Research to date largely comprises modeling with little hardware besides some materials irradiation tests. Principal contributors are French CNRS, in particular LSPC Grenoble (core design, fuel cycle), German Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (salt properties), Czech Institute for Nuclear Research at Rez (on-line reprocessing technology), Technische Universiteit Delft, Netherlands, and Politecnico Torino, Italy (reactor design and modeling), and others. The principal objective of the EU effort is a fuel cycle machine, that is an actinide burner, which could also facilitate transition to the thorium fuel cycle. Dr. Sylvie Delpech, current director of EVOL, projects an admittedly conservative timeline of 2050 or beyond for a full demonstrator. Dr. Delpech is a molten salt researcher with the Laboratoire d’Electrochimie et de Chimie Analytique, a joint research unit associated with CNRS, Université Pierre et Marie Curie (UPMC) and Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie Paris (ENSCP), which support the EU EVOL actinide burner molten salt research effort. Dr. Elsa Merle-Lucotte, of the Grenoble Institute of Technology in France, is also a widely published researcher within EVOL on the subject of fast spectrum molten salt reactors. ACSEPT, launched on March 1st, 2008, is another spent nuclear fuel reprocessing R&D project within EURATOM and funded by the European Commission. ACSEPT is focused on actinide recycling to minimize the burden on the geological repositories through various reprocessing schemes, including exploration of MSRs. ACSEPT is a consortium composed of 34 partners (European universities, nuclear research bodies and major industrial players) from 12 European countries plus Australia and Japan. There is signiﬁcant overlap between ACESPT and EVOL researchers, and ACESPT seems to be much less active than EVOL.

8.2 France

The French CEA (Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives) is participating in the EVOL consortium and contributes to ongoing research for fast-spectrum molten salt reactors for actinide recycling. At the recent IThEC 2013 conference, AREVA and Solvay, a large Belgian chemical company, announced a joint collaboration on thorium fuel-cycle research, initially to focus on solid fuel forms. AREVA boasts an inventory of 2450 tonnes of thorium nitrate from former mining operations in Madagascar and development of solutions for its proper management (processing, handling, and interim storage). Luc Van Der Durpel, VP of Strategic Analysis and Technology Prospectives at

32 AREVA, asserts that only a signiﬁcant government-led effort could bring about a transition to the thorium fuel cycle within 30-50 years and that thorium should not overshadow nearer-term transition solutions. He further asserted that any advanced thorium fuel cycle implementations such as MSRs should follow implementation of thorium in current LWRs.

8.3 Norway

Norway recently announced a Thorium Research Institute, currently focused on solid fuel. The development is likely a response to recent progress of Thor Energy in solid thorium fuel development and irradiation testing.

8.3.1 Thor Energy

Thor Energy, an eight-person subsidiary of Scatec AS, is owned by Thor Corporation (81.3%), Steenkampskraal Thorium Ltd. (15%) and Statoil Ventures AS (3.7%). Thor Energy raised about 90 million dollars from several utilities and research institutes, including in-kind support from Japan’s Toshiba-Westinghouse in exchange for access to the thorium LWR irradiation test data. Thor Energy recently presented initial data from the first irradiation cycle of its solid thorium fuel in a conventional LWR. The test will continue for five years at the conventional Halden LWR of the Norwegian Institute for Energy Technology (IFE) in Oslo, Norway. "A specially designed rig with six fuel rods containing different varieties of thorium fuel was loaded into the reactor in April 2013 and the five year irradiation project is now running."

8.4 Czech Republic

The Nuclear Research Institute at Režˇ in the Czech Republic has an active research program focused on molten salt technology and a zero power reactor for reactor physics experiments. More specifically, Dr. Jan Uhlir of Režˇ has secured private research financing for several table top molten salt loop cabinets and is making good progress on research of multi-stage, serial extractions of fission products from salt flows. Dr. Uhlir is the head of the Fluoride Chemistry Division at the Nuclear Research Institute at Rež,ˇ Czech Republic. His is a leading molten salt chemist and is participating in the EU EVOL project and in joint research with ORNL on molten salt irradiation research. He has been researching MSRs since 1999, with his focus moving from ADS transmutation to classical MSRs since 2005. He is currently collaborating with ORNL regarding fast high-temp MSRs and in conducting reactor- grade-flibe irradiation tests. Other research includes general molten salt handling and materials research as well as design of a Molten-Salt Transmutation Reactor. Additional research at the institute includes development and verification of structural materials for molten fluoride salt media including development of special nickel superalloy MONICR experimentally produced by SKODA Nuclear Machinery company. Former graduate researchers from the laboratory report that Dr. Uh- lir does not receive needed support for MSR research from the National Research Institute, which

33 focuses instead on catering to research for the existing nuclear industry. His research is instead funded largely from sources outside the institute and is continued with remarkable persistence despite lack of support from superiors. Miloslav Hron of Czech Republic’s University of West Bohemia presented at ThEC2012 on the development of a new nuclear reactor concept with liquid fuel based on molten fluorides for transition to Th-U233 fuel cycle. The project SPHINX (SPent Hot fuel Incineration by Neutron fluX) covers the R&D of selected parts of MSR technology including MSR fuel cycle technology. The SPHINX project and consortium, TRANSMUTATION, were proposed by four leading nuclear research bodies in the Czech Republic (Nuclear Research Institute Režˇ plc, SKODA Nuclear Ma- chinery plc in Pilsen, Nuclear Physics Institute of Academy of Sciences in Režˇ and Technical University in Praha) at the end of 1996 to which Technical University in Brno (specialized for a secondary circuit problems) associated in the year 2000. The project has been supported by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic, CEZ, a.s. (Czech Electricity Generating Company) and RAWRA (Radwaste Repository Authority) and the contributions of consortium members. The current experimental program is focused on the irradiation of samples of molten-salt systems as well as structural materials proposed for the blanket of the SPHINX transmuter in the field of high neutron flux of research reactors. The main aims of this program include: experimental verification of long-time behavior of transmuter blanket which contains molten fluoride salts as a fuel and coolant, validation of computational code system being developed for the computation of actinides concentration in long- term operation of the transmuter, and material research on behavior of materials in neutron and gamma fields, and materials interactions on high temperature conditions.

8.5 CERN

CERN has recognized that thorium and molten salt reactors are gaining signiﬁcant international interest and that accelerators could potentially have a place in thorium fuel cycle and MSBR demonstration. CERN has formed the IThEC Committee to help coordinate future IThEO conferences and has already announced that a future meeting will be held at CERN. IThEC is preparing a pro- posal for the construction of a 4-10MW Accelerator Driven System research and demonstration program for both solid-fuel and molten salt thorium reactors.

8.6 References

1. Hans Blix, "Thorium Nuclear Power and Non-Proliferation," presented at Thorium Energy Conference 2013, Geneva, Switzerland, October 27-31, 2013. 2. Didier Haas, Nuclear Consulting Company, "Overview of European Experience with thorium fuels," presented at Thorium Energy Conference 2013, Geneva, Switzerland, October 27-31, 2013.

34 3. Elsa Merle-Lucotte, Grenoble CNRS-IN2P3-LPSC, "Introduction to the Physics of the Molten Salt Fast Reactor," presented at Thorium Energy Conference 2013, Geneva, Switzerland, October 27-31, 2013. 4. Sylvie Delpech, Universite Paris Sud, "Aqueous and Pyro-reprocessing," presented at Tho- rium Energy Conference 2013, Geneva, Switzerland, October 27-31, 2013. 5. Jiri Krepel, Paul Scherrer Institute, "PSI Studies on Advanced fuel cycle options for Fast/Thermal MSR Utilizing Thorium," presented at Thorium Energy Conference 2013, Geneva, Switzer- land, October 27-31, 2013. 6. Luc Van Den Durpel, AREVA, "An industrial view on Thorium: Possibilities, Challenges and Paths forward," presented at Thorium Energy Conference 2013, Geneva, Switzerland, October 27-31, 2013. 7. Oystein Asphjell, Thor Energy, "Thorium in LWRs: ﬁrst results from the ongoing irradiation campaign in the Halden Reactor," presented at Thorium Energy Conference 2013, Geneva, Switzerland, October 27-31, 2013. 8. Jan Uhlir, Research Centre Rež,ˇ "Current Czech R&D in Thorium MSR Technology and Future Directions," presented at Thorium Energy Conference 2013, Geneva, Switzerland, October 27-31, 2013.

35 9 United Kingdom

The British Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has sponsored studies into the thorium fuel cycle as part of its long-term energy policy planning. Molten Salt Reactors and LFTR were also included in a National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) report on Small-modular Reactors (SMR). LFTR was also scored favorably in a DECC assessment of proposed advanced reactor designs. A sizable All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Thorium Energy was formed in 2012, with the purpose of fostering debate about thorium and molten salt reactors. The Weinberg Foundation, a UK non-profit, was also launched in early 2012 to carry on public advocacy for continued development of molten salt reactors. DECC leadership continue to receive briefings on thorium and MSR technology and are proposing feasibility studies through the NNL and Oxford. The UK is exploring options for usage of 140 tonnes of separated plutonium. Flibe Energy has briefed the DECC about the possibility of using these fissile reserves to breed 140 tonnes of U-233 to start 140GW of LFTRs that could continue operating with thorium as the consumable. Each of the current proposals would yield only a few tens of gigawatts by treating the fuel as a one-time consumable or with costly partial recycling of MOX fuel. The Thorium Energy Association (ThorEA) is a not-for-profit association for the dissemination of information about the use of thorium fuel in nuclear power systems. Professor Robert Cywinksi, from Huddersfield University, organized ThorEA as a platform to further his ongoing university accelerator research and development for use in accelerator-driven thorium fuel cycle systems.

9.1 References

1. Rob Arnold, UK Department of Energy and Climate Change, "The role of thorium in UK nuclear R&D," presented at Thorium Energy Conference 2013, Geneva, Switzerland, October 27-31, 2013. 2. Daniel Mathers, National Nuclear Laboratory, "The Thorium Fuel Cycle," presented at Tho- rium Energy Conference 2013, Geneva, Switzerland, October 27-31, 2013. 3. Joel Turner, Manchester University, "Opportunities and Challenges for Thorium in Commer- cial MSRs," presented at Thorium Energy Conference 2013, Geneva, Switzerland, October 27-31, 2013. 4. Paul Madden, Oxford University, "Thorium molten salts, theory and practice," presented at Thorium Energy Conference 2013, Geneva, Switzerland, October 27-31, 2013.

36 Part III Americas

37 10 Canada

10.1 Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd

Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd (AECL) has reported agreements for assessing the use of thorium fuels in existing CANDU 6 (700MWe-class) reactors. In July 2009, AECL signed a second phase agreement with four Chinese entities to develop and demonstrate the full-scale use of thorium fuel in the CANDU 6 reactors at Qinshan in China. A demonstration High Temperature Reactor-Pebble Modules (HTR-PM) of 210MWe (two reactor modules) is being built at Shidaowan in Shandong province.

10.2 Terrestrial Energy Inc

The oil sands of Alberta have become an increasingly important energy resource, but their development has been fraught with controversy because of their association with signiﬁcant environmental degradation. Much of the potential oil sands resource is underground and only accessible through a technique called steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD). In this technique, high-pressure steam is injected underground and causes the oil to dissolve and percolate through the rock and sand to another series of recovery wells. The water-oil mixture is pumped back to the surface where the oil is separated from the water which is reboiled to steam and injected back into the ground.

Figure 13: Steam-assisted gravity drainage oil recovery technique.

In current SAGD processes, combustion of natural gas raises steam from water, which increases the carbon intensity of the SAGD process. Terrestrial Energy Inc. is a company formed in 2012 by David LeBlanc, Chris Popoff, and Simon Irish to use molten-salt reactor technology to provide the high-temperature steam needed by the SAGD process. Their design is called an "Integral Molten Salt Reactor" (IMSR) and is intended to be truck-transportable. To avoid tritium production, it will not use the LiF-BeF2 salt combination intended for high-performance molten-salt reactors and will not be capable of breeding, but will burn 235U in enriched uranium. The IMSR will begin with

38 a demonstration reactor by 2021 in the tens of megawatts range and then increase to hundreds of megawatts for SAGD use. The company is seeking initial funding and strategic partners. They do not anticipate that it will offer signiﬁcant cost savings for SAGD operations over natural gas, but that it will enhance their environmental acceptibility by reducing their CO2 emissions.

10.3 Thorium Power Canada

In 2013, Thorium Power Canada (TPC) proposed developing thorium power projects for Chile and Indonesia with core and reactor components to be manufactured by DBI Operating Company in California. TPC is very cryptic about its designs; however, it is believed to be marketing a small modular solid-thorium-fuel reactor design.

10.4 References

1. David LeBlanc, Terrestrial Energy, "Nuclear in Alberta: Molten Salt Reactors to Lower Oilsands Carbon", video interview with Gordon McDowell, posted February 22, 2014.

39 11 United States

Thorium’s potential to generate nuclear energy was first discovered in the United States in 1942, and both molten-salt reactors were built at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. The first and only thorium breeder reactor, the final core of the Shippingport nuclear reactor, was operated in the US in 1978. Nonetheless, there is no effort at a national level in the United States today in thorium or molten-salt reactor technology. All activities in the US in these areas are privately funded. The United States has extensive thorium resources, most notably in the Lemhi Pass region of Idaho. They also possess a buried stockpile (3200 metric tonnes) of thorium nitrate in Nevada. They possess the only sizeable inventory of uranium-233 at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, even though it is slated for an expensive disposal process. An important alloy manufacturer (Haynes Interna- tional) and beryllium fluoride provider (Materion) also have operations in the United States.

11.1 Lightbridge (formerly Thorium Power)

Lightbridge is a private company incorporated in the 1990s to develop seed-and-blanket fuel designs by Dr. Alvin Radkowsky, who worked as a fuel designer for Admiral Hyman Rickover’s Naval Reactors Program. Dr. Radkowsky helped develop the core conﬁguration that was used in the only successful demonstration of thorium breeding, conducted at the Shippingport nuclear reactor in Pennsylvania. Lightbridge, then called Thorium Power, sought to commercialize Rad- kowsky’s core designs for implementation in existing pressurized light-water reactors. When this did not happen, the company changed its name and focused on consulting activities in other countries, most notably in the UAE. Recently they have been promoting a metallic fuel design, again for existing pressurized water reactors, but this design uses no thorium.

11.2 Flibe Energy

Flibe Energy was incorporated in April 2011 to develop and commercialize true thorium-fueled molten-salt reactors. Their reactor design is called the "liquid-fluoride thorium reactor" or LFTR. Their initial focus was on generating electrical power for military facilities under military licensing of reactors, with the sale of medical radioisotopes providing most of the income from the reactors. Since then, they have transitioned to a focus on commercial electrical utilities, conventional NRC regulation, but retaining an early focus on medical radioisotopes. Since incorporation, Flibe Energy has developed relationships with major utilities, leading research institutes, critical materials suppliers, universities, national laboratories, government con- tractors, and energy-intensive heavy industry consumers to lay the foundation for collaboration among prospective stakeholders, and ultimately for a new energy industry based around thorium. Flibe Energy has worked to educate these stakeholders and the public about the extensive historic liquid-fluoride reactor developments by ORNL and about the potential advantages of conceptual designs for Flibe Energy’s modern liquid-fluoride reactors. Flibe Energy has established itself as

40 an international subject matter expert and western leader in development and commercialization of liquid-ﬂuoride thorium reactor technology.

11.3 Transatomic Power

Transatomic Power was incorporated in 2010 by two MIT PhD candidates in order to use molten- salt reactor technology to consume spent nuclear fuel. They call their design the Waste-Annihilating Molten Salt Reactor (WAMSR) and it is based on molten-salt fuel and neutron moderation by metallic hydrides, most likely zirconium hydride. They believe that this arrangement will give them a signiﬁcant fast- and slow-neutron spectrum in their reactor, in order to promote consumption of transuranic waste. Major questions remain about the stability of metal hydrides in their reactor, however. They have not announced any plans to utilize thorium in their reactor, but men- tion it as a future option. Another challenge they face is the need for legislative changes in the US to allow spent fuel processing and actinide recovery.

11.4 Fluoride High-Temperature Reactor Consortium

Charles Forsberg, then of ORNL, conceived of the ﬂuoride high-temperature reactor in 2002 as a marriage of the TRISO-based, high-temperature graphite fuel technology and liquid-ﬂuoride (LiF- BeF2) coolant. The result is a reactor that combines high-temperature performance with much higher core power densities than can be achieved through gas-cooled reactors using TRISO-coated particles. Forsberg left ORNL for MIT and since then has been funded by the DOE through their NEUP (Nuclear Energy University Program) along with research partners at the University of Wisconsin- Madison, and the University of California, Berkeley. There has also been intermittent funding from the DOE to support additional work on the FHR at ORNL, but the amount has not been as much or as consistent as the NEUP funding. MIT-UCB-UW and ORNL continue to pursue analogous, but different variants of the FHR. In the university designs, the fuel is in the form of pebbles moving through the core in a pebble-bed. In the ORNL designs, the fuel is formed into prismatic blocks. ORNL has also designed smaller FHRs, one of which is called "SmAHTR". SmAHTR was intended to be transportable by truck to remote locations.

LiF-BeF2 (flibe) is the only coolant salt suitable for an FHR because of the issue of void coefficient performance. Tritium formation is also a concern in FHRs because flibe forms tritium in a neutron flux. Current designs anticipate the use of a "nuclear air combined cycle" (NACC) gas turbine power conversion system where the coolant salt would directly heat air in the heat exchanger in a process analogous to combustion, which would then drive a gas turbine. Enthalpy exhausted by the turbine would be recovered in a steam generator similar to a conventional combined-cycle plant. NACC is conceived as a way to reduce power conversion system development costs, but the issue of tritium release to the environment could threaten its viability.

41 11.5 Texas A&M University, Dr. Peter McIntyre

Dr. Peter McIntyre’s group at Texas A&M University is interested in chloride-based salts operating in a fast neutron spectrum, driven by a unique particle accelerator design as a system for nuclear waste consumption. "In our design, a ﬂux-coupled stack of 7 isochronous cyclotrons is used to deliver a pattern of 800 MeV proton beams. The beams produce fast neutrons by spallation on lead, transmute thorium fuel into U-233, which in turn produces gigawatts of thermal power." Obtaining further funding for the work has reportedly been very challenging, however, and the current state of effort is uncertain.

11.6 References

1. "Lightbridge Investor Presentation," accessed March 2014. 2. Kirk Sorensen, Flibe Energy, "Flibe Energy LFTR Development Strategy," presented at Tho- rium Energy Conference 2013, Geneva, Switzerland, October 27-31, 2013. 3. Transatomic Power, "Transatomic Power Technical White Paper", accessed January 2014.

42 12 Latin America

12.1 Mexico

Mexico has operated two boiling-water reactors at their Laguna Verde site since 1985. Individuals afﬁliated with the COPARMEX organization have expressed interest in greater involvement in thorium molten-salt reactors in recent meetings.

12.2 Venezuela

Professor Eduardo Greaves of Simon Bolivar University in Venezuela has promoted thorium molten- salt reactors for energy generation needs in Venezuela for a number of years. His students have analyzed the neutronic performance of various core conﬁgurations, and Dr. Greaves has presented on the subject at various international conferences.

12.3 Brazil

Key industrialists in Brazil with interests in rare earth mining and reﬁning have maintained an interest in use of thorium mining byproducts as a potential fuel for molten salt reactors. Brazil as a nation is also looking at advanced nuclear power generation.

43 Part IV Africa, Middle East, Australia

44 13 Middle East and North Africa (MENA)

13.1 Turkey

Turkey has an active nuclear construction project in cooperation with Russian state-owned company Rosatom at their Akkuyu site on the Mediterranean coast. There they plan to build four 1200 MWe VVER (pressurized light-water reactors of a Russian design) units in a project whose total value would approach $20 billion USD. Engineering and survey work began at the site in 2011 and the four units will be put into service from 2019-2022. The ﬁnancing will be provided by Russian investors through a Rosatom subsidiary. Up to 49% of the shares in the venture will be sold to public investment on the Turkish stock exchange.

Figure 14: AMR Minerals’ Aksu Diamas project site in southern Turkey.

Turkey also has one of the world’s ﬁnest thorium deposits, consisting largely of high-thorium- content thorianite, at a site in southern Turkey near Canakli. A company called AMR Minerals has mineral rights to the site. Their Aksu Diamas project intends to primarily recover rare earth minerals but the thorium content of the site is impressive and may stoke Turkish interest in thorium- fueled molten-salt reactors.

13.2 United Arab Emirates

There is no speciﬁc program for thorium or molten-salt reactors in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as of the date of the writing, but the nation merits consideration because of its unique position in the MENA region. The UAE is composed of seven emirates, the largest of which is Abu Dhabi and the best known is Dubai. Abu Dhabi is a major oil exporter but most of the emirates in the UAE have little to no petroleum resources. The UAE also has natural gas resources but is still a major importer of natural gas from its neighbor Qatar. Essentially all electrical production in the UAE comes from

45 combined-cycle gas-ﬁred powerplants that use waste heat for seawater desalination. In 2009, a federal examination of future energy needs concluded that nuclear power represented the logical future path for the nation, and an ambitious nuclear construction effort began. South Korea was chosen to provide four of its APR-1400 light-water reactors, to be built at a site in the far western end of the country called Barakah. The Barakah project, shown in Figure 15, is being undertaken by the newly-formed Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC) and is under the jurisdiction of the also newly-formed Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR).

Figure 15: Reactor construction underway at the Barakah site in the United Arab Emirates.

The most notable aspect of the nuclear energy program in the UAE is the speed at which it has taken form and the accelerated development of corporations and federal organizations that will develop and oversee the entire enterprise. Assuming the Barakah project successfully builds and operates the four reactors under construction, the 5600 MW of electrical power they will produce will represent a large portion of the electrical consumption of the nation, and will likely be followed by additional nuclear construction. Since the entire nation stretches out like a line across the shore of the Persian Gulf, there will be great incentive to locate future developments closer to the population centers of Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and safer technologies like molten-salt reactors may become attractive. As part of its nuclear development, the UAE signed a "1-2-3" agreement with the United States government (since the Korean reactor technology under construction at Barakah was licensed from the US). This agreement restricts the UAE from enrichment of uranium or reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel. But it also has a clause that if another nation in the MENA region negotiates a more permissive 123 agreement with the US, then the agreement with the UAE becomes equally permissive. It is possible that the thorium fuel cycle, utilized in the molten-salt reactor, might be attractive for future development in the UAE because it would not require uranium enrichment and all chemical processing would take place inside the reactor. Its appeal and potential would depend in large part on how the US interpreted provisions about fuel reprocessing in the current agreement.

46 With a stable, albeit autocratic political system, and a negotiated agreement with the United States, the UAE represents the most likely country in the MENA region to consider future use of thorium and the molten-salt reactor.

13.3 Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia also has no current thorium or molten-salt reactor program, but pressures due to population growth are causing them to consider as much as 100 GWe of new nuclear build. A ﬂeet of this size would be the largest in the world, and would certainly put pressure on them to have a domestic uranium enrichment and reprocessing industry. Since their Persian Gulf neighbor, the United Arab Emirates, has a "1-2-3" agreement with the United States that prohibits enrichment and reprocessing, a more permissive agreement with Saudi Arabia would be challenging. But Saudi Arabia has greater trade dealings with the US and may be able to negotiate a more permissive agreement. Alternatively, they may choose to procure nuclear technology from Russia or China that comes with no such restrictions. The prospect of building a huge nuclear ﬂeet to generate electricity and desalinated water, while limiting the development of uranium enrichment or conventional fuel reprocessing, may drive the Saudi government to more seriously consider thorium-fueled molten-salt reactors, provided a suitable technology vendor can be found to meet their needs.

13.4 Jordan

Jordan has no planned efforts to develop thorium or molten-salt reactors, but has begun the development of a nuclear power site in the Qusayr Amra region, east of the capital Amman. There they anticipate construction of as many as three 1000-MWe light-water reactors to be supplied by Rus- sia’s Rosatom development agency. The Russian company will take on 49 percent of the plants’ $10 billion construction and operation costs, with the Jordanian government contributing 51 per cent and retaining a majority share in the plants. Because Jordan is an arid country with limited access to seawater for powerplant cooling, they plan to use waste water to cool the light-water reactors in a similar manner to that employed in the United States at the Palo Verde facility outside of Phoenix, Arizona. 500 million cubic metres of cooling water will come annually from the Khirbet Samra treatment plant, which is some 20 kilometres away from Qusayr Amra. Jordan also has indigenous deposits of uranium and thorium that they are interested in exploiting for future energy needs. Currently they generate nearly all of their electricity from imported natural gas. It is anticipated that nuclear power could provide Jordan with almost one-third of its future energy needs and cut costs by about one-third. Jordan also lacks the deep ﬁnancial resources of the UAE and Saudi Arabia, so the prospects of new nuclear development there may depend strongly on the willingness of the Russian government to underwrite a portion of the construction costs of new reactors. That in turn may depend strongly on

47 the willingness of the Jordanian government to offer long-term, ﬁnancially attractive arrangements with the Russian government.

13.5 References

1. Oleg Titov, Rosatom, "The status of Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant construction," presented at 4th Annual Nuclear Construction Conference, MENA, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, September 24-25, 2013. 2. Serra Basoglu Gurkaynak, "Nuclear Power in Turkey," presented at 4th Annual Nuclear Construction Conference, MENA, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, September 24-25, 2013. 3. Muammer Kaya, Osmangazi University, "Global and Turkish perspectives of Thorium fuel for nuclear energy," presented at Thorium Energy Conference 2013, Geneva, Switzerland, October 27-31, 2013. 4. Sumer Sahin, Atilim University, "Utilization Potential of Thorium in CANDU Reactors and in Fusion-Fission (Hybrid) Reactors," presented at Thorium Energy Conference 2013, Geneva, Switzerland, October 27-31, 2013. 5. Salah Ud-Din Khan, King Saud University, "Technology Assessment for Saudi Arabia Nu- clear Program," presented at 4th Annual Nuclear Construction Conference, MENA, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, September 24-25, 2013. 6. Youssef Shatilla, Masdar Institute, "Nuclear Desalination," presented at 4th Annual Nuclear Construction Conference, MENA, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, September 24-25, 2013. 7. Samer Kahook, Jordan Atomic Energy Commission, "Jordan’s Nuclear Energy Program," presented at 4th Annual Nuclear Construction Conference, MENA, Dubai, United Arab Emi- rates, September 24-25, 2013.

48 14 South Africa

14.1 Steenkampskraal Thorium Limited

Steenkampskraal Thorium Limited (STL) is a South African company seeking to develop thorium as an energy source as a solid fuel in gas-cooled reactors. STL’s public plans are centered on mining rights and exploration for thorium in various deposits; fuel testing and licensing for use in pebble bed reactors; and design of a 100MW thorium generator based on pebble bed reactor technology. STL recently sold signiﬁcant mining and mineral interests in S. Africa, retaining rights to the thorium in such mines. STL has a small team of reactor and pebble fuel designers working on a pebble-bed technology in hopes of developing a market for the reactor and their thorium fuel throughout Africa. STL’s Th-100 design is a thorium-fueled gas-cooled pebble bed reactor based on earlier South African pebble bed reactor experimental facilities. STL promotes a number of co-generation applications for their reactor. To diversify, they invested about $15 million from the sale of their mineral rights in the ongoing thorium irradiation efforts of Thor Energy. A portion of their executive team became disillusioned with the regulatory and commercialization prospects in Africa and recently moved to the US to begin a competing company based on the same pebble bed design.

15 Australia

Australia is a leading exporter of uranium and has large thorium reserves; yet current policies prohibit domestic nuclear power. There is currently no production of thorium in Australia, but it is present in monazite being mined with other minerals in heavy mineral beach sand deposits (8-10% thorium concentrations).

15.1 Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation

The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) conducts nuclear materials research and support services and produces medical isotopes. ANSTO sent a delegate to the 2012 Shanghai IThEO conference to promote ANSTO services. Shortly thereafter, ANSTO posted several post-doctoral molten-salt research job openings. Australia has also reportedly agreed to perform some test reactor materials research for the joint US-Chinese molten-salt cooled reactor program.

49 Part V Conclusions

Both molten-salt reactor technology and the thorium fuel cycle are being pursued in many countries around the globe. Even in countries where neither technology is being currently being pursued, there are strong economic forces that may cause a reexamination of these technologies in the near future, and those locations should continue to be monitored for progress. Although the thorium fuel cycle and the molten-salt reactor are very often aligned, there are only a few places where active work is taking place on true thorium-fueled molten-salt reactor. The most prominent of these is China, with a well-funded and politically-supported effort that is spread across research centers and government ofﬁces. With an annual budget of approximately $400 million US dollars, no other effort even comes close to this rate of development. Another place where thorium and MSR technology is moving forward is in Europe under the EVOL project. This program also has a goal of consuming transuranic waste in a fast spectrum reactor. But the fast spectrum obviates the most basic advantage of the thorium fuel cycle, which is the ability to breed in the thermal neutron spectrum. In the United States, only Flibe Energy is pursuing the combination of the thorium fuel cycle and the molten-salt reactor. Other efforts in North America are pursuing molten-salt reactor technology, including Terrestrial Energy in Canada and Transatomic Power in Boston. Terrestrial plans to use uranium-fueled MSRs to produce steam for petroleum recovery from the oil sands. Transatomic plans to use dissolved spent nuclear fuel to power their MSR. There is also a DOE-funded effort to use molten-salt coolant in a pebble-bed reactor. In the world of solid-fueled thorium reactors, India has long had a commanding lead in the technology, as part of their three-stage program. Recently there have been indications that they are examining molten-salt reactors as well, as an alternative to the heavy-water reactor for the third stage of their program. Should they embark on MSR technology, they would likely be a competitor of the same stature as China. Emerging nuclear economies, such as the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and Mexico, may ﬁnd thorium MSR technology attractive as they attempt to build a nuclear power infrastructure without the political complications of uranium enrichment and conventional uranium/plutonium reprocessing. Funding and national commitment will be the determining factors as to whether any of these efforts will reach the stage of an operating thorium-fueled molten-salt reactor.