Nuclear Reactors Go Abroad

Thursday, July 23, 2015, 10am to 11:30 in the Meeting Room (behind the fireplace)

In the last meeting, we learned that molten salt, not thorium was the key to nuclear safety, fuel efficiency, and waste management. We discussed two molten salt reactor designs in the United States that had potential to solve the energy crisis, but were blocked by federal regulation. The future of advanced reactors appears to be outside the US. In our next meeting, we will examine two foreign molten salt reactors, the FHR in China and the IMSR in Canada. These reactors, while still in early development, are considered to have a realistic chance of getting into production.

The Chinese government nuclear program is awesome and the FHR is just one of many advanced reactors in development in China. What makes the FHR unique is that it is being jointly development by China and the United States, even though China is putting up most of the money. Some see this as a giveaway of US expertise and expressed outrage as in THIS talk.

The Canadian reactor is a private enterprise and needs to find investors, even though regulation is not expected to be an obstacle. HERE is an investor meeting where the IMSR is being pitched as a uniquely Canadian product. Ironically, the expected primary investor is the tar sands industry. 

Please note that both video are rather long, so only a portion of each video will be shown to allow more time for discussion.

----------------------------- Updated 7/24/15 ---------------------------------

Here are the links to the other videos from which clips were shown at the meeting;

1. Kirk Sorensen again.
2. Paul McIntosh talks about Terrestrial Energy at TEAC6.
3. David LeBlanc talks about Canadian tar sands at TEAC4.
4. One of the 4th generation reactors.