LFTR (Thorium-MSR) - Kirk Sorensen of Flibe Energy @ University of Tennessee, Knoxville
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ธ.ค. 2023
- Kirk Sorensen discusses Flibe Energy's thorium molten-salt reactor (called LFTR) as it relates to:
- recycling of existing nuclear waste
- generating power without creation of additional nuclear waste
- proliferation concerns of weapons-grade material
- harvesting of fission products
- electrochemistry
Kirk Sorensen Biography:
Kirk Sorensen is an engineer working on the development of lithium-fluoride thorium reactors (LFTR) as a source of energy and important materials. Kirk has master’s degrees in nuclear engineering from the University of Tennessee and in aerospace engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Utah State University. Kirk founded Flibe Energy in 2011 and has led their efforts to develop the LFTR, including the completion of an industry-funded conceptual study for the Electric Power Research Institute.
Kirk has been a proponent of thorium technology since 2006, speaking across Europe and North America as well as in Asia and Australia. Previous to founding Flibe Energy, he was chief nuclear technologist at Teledyne Brown Engineering in Huntsville, Alabama, and from 2000 to 2010 he worked for NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center including a two-year assignment to the US Army's Space and Missile Defense Command. He lives in northern Alabama with his wife and four children.
Animations in this video were created by Flibe Energy: flibe.com
This is Flibe Energy's narrated Thorium Fuel Cycle animation: • Thorium Fuel Cycle Int...
This video was edited using DaVinci Resolve Studio, and its "Magic Mask" feature applied to UofT's recording of Kirk Sorensen's presentation, found here: calendar.utk.edu/event/kirk_s...
v20231207f - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
This video combines Flibe Energy animations with Kirk's University of Tennessee presentation (where Kirk was showing the Thorium Fuel Cycle animation as part of this talk). Flibe's original fuel cycle animation is here: th-cam.com/video/Mv5Evoo8nq4/w-d-xo.html and I'd also recommend checking out Flibe's animation on Targeted Alpha Therapy: th-cam.com/video/ltiU5ZUXKCE/w-d-xo.html
Kirk was extracted from the UofT video using DaVinci Resolve Studio's "Magic Mask" feature. I've been taking multiple stabs at this, and you'll see 2 different approaches used in even just this one video. Am continuing to experiment with it... there are dozens of TH-cam tutorial videos showing a variety of approaches. Most non-intuitively to me, there's a "Fusion" tool and a "Color Correction" tool which both offer "Magic Mask" with different feature sets. DaVinci users on Reddit recommend that the "Color Correction" Magic Mask has more features and what most people tend to use. Tutorial videos tend to show one or the other, and never seem to compare pros/cons of either approach.
While the bigger Thorium project remains in Adobe's Premiere Pro, I'm hoping to one day turn off that subscription and only pay to use PPro when needed. This DaVinci Resolve Studio was a bit expensive as a one-time purchase, but would easily pay for itself within a single year's use. (Black Magic who created DaVinci Resolve don't survive on software sales, but rather hardware sales. DaVinci exists to support their hardware business.)
If you'd like to support my own communication efforts, this is my preferred mechanism: www.patreon.com/thorium ...I don't have an ETA for next large narrative release, but that is what I basically use Patreon to fund. These smaller one-off videos are components used towards that end.
The targeted Alpha therapy is a Godsend that the fluid fuel makes readily available.
Once again Gordon - thanks for your continuing efforts for TMSRs. We in Jakarta are eagerly awaiting our first ThorCon 500MWe TMSR due for delivery from the Korean double-hulled bulk-carrier shipbuilding yard within 36 months...but hopefully sooner as announced at the COP28 Conference last week.
While the West continues to talk about it and market in spite of ignorance, ideology, corporate interests, and political gridlock, China will most likely develop and refine the process.
Sure, we'll eventually get it, but we'll be decades behind.
always worth listening to, thank you so much , again. Don't stop.
Really well done presentation. Kirk's enthusiasm is contagious and really visible. I wish him all the success in the world.
In effect, you are wishing us all that success, if I may.
I sometimes imagine what would happen - not as in a movie but in very real terms - if someone were to come up with a low-cost, high-efficiency, reliable, clean, scalable energy system.
It is the stuff of movies (and conspiracy theories), too, of course, but I imagine a bullshit-free demonstration of something like this working, and the screams and gnashing of teeth in the biggest energy companies and stock market.
He is going up against people who want energy to remain pricey.
@@kayakMike1000 Research remains pricey and comes with many unknown ups and downs.
Been watching him since 2011, still believing in this future.
Been waiting for a Kirk talk for ages! Many thanks!
Exactly, me too.
yes - a meaningful progress report would have been most interesting.
we always want to know where Flibe has progressed to. seems like a very slow moving horse.
@@MrZoomZone Kirk is speaking at a colloquium for students, relaying information about the benefits of the thorium fuel cycle and MSRs.
It would be very odd for him to sit down a bunch of students and just talk about company updates.
Here's a link to my Thorium playlist:
th-cam.com/play/PL6JjafE5gsb9nSmudoj5MUKxX8LTKO0-J.html&si=p1u0Dy3L05nKVN_d
Good to see Kirk back in front of the camera again. He is the best spokesperson for Thorium. Keep us regularly updated on your progress, Kirk! We want to hear more.
The legend himself. Also, it was exciting to see Kirk speak at the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship forum in London, organized by Jordan Peterson and other notables.
I'd like to see this is it on youtube?
I'm glad i still heard from this guy again after a long silence,, go for it Kirk,, salute you..
Kirk is a legend, and the graphics are amazing.
Captivating presentation!
Kirk's a HERO.
Good One - Good to see that Mr. Sorensen is still on his game. Thank you Gordon.
I really enjoyed the combination of the animation (which is great even by itself) and Kirk. Excellent. Seeing the animation really helped the thorium fuel cycle click for me.
Kirk's best presentation yet.
You really outdid yourself here Gordon. Thanks!
Kirk is the BEST communicator. Awesome! Thanks to Gordon for his dedication to excellence. I love this video.
Thanks for posting CA-Nuke! Kirk has been incognito for awhile.
Well done - best clip yet Gordon!
Yes! I miss Kirk's lectures. What about Flibe?
From time to time I wish I had studied science (or engineering) at university.
Watching this I have that feeling.
Thanks for the upload.
Great. Time flies during Kirk's presentations.
Gordon, did you know? Caesium-137 can be transmuted to stable Barium 136 & 137 by proton bombardment (~13 MeV) from an accelerator. In the process, a gamma ray and a neutron is released, which could be absorbed by Thorium, for instance. Even this fission product has more to give, if used creatively and treated with respect. Keep-up the good work.
We need more talks for Kirk, aka Mr Thorium! 👍💪
Nicely done, Gordon - I always enjoy seeing Kirk do his thing and I’m glad to see the progress MSRs are making, even though there’s not much happening domestically. Anyway your videos help keep my hopes up for the (eventual) deployment of MSRs all over the place.
I support this man
I love listening to Kirk, I actually believe we will have a Thorium power future. I think if he pulls it off, Kirk will get a Nobel prize.
Almost makes you wonder what is in play that we do not have a Manhattan project like approach to resolve the remaining issues given the massive positive attributes claimed for Thorium-MSRs. I'd much rather have my tax dollars go to a Thorium-MSR Manhattan project chasing Protons and Neutrons than chasing Pronouns.
10:00 people don’t know that LFTR‘s are not just about the energy. It’s about acquiring so many exotic materials that can be put to use in so many fields. 🧪
Kirk Sorensen for president.
Thank you Gordon for helping to keep this dream alive.
that is all it will ever be...a dream
It's good to see Kirk back on stage - havent heard from him for much to long!
What happened to his NF3 project?
Burned the funds for a yacht and crashed.
@@goiterlanternbase Blasphemy!
This is the most uplifting thing I've heard in a long time. Thanks, Gordon.
I love the fact that making electricity is literally the least valuable and least interesting thing you can do with molten salts. As a species right now, targeted alpha therapies has got to be one of the most important things we could possibly do right now. That would be game changing at a global level. There is no reason we should be having a bunch of children die right now because of something stupid like leukemia.
China has a small water reactor at the CAEA, designed for installing in hospitals with fast & thermal neutron & boron alpha therapy at hospitals. This reactor was in use treating patients when I saw it.
God bless this man. I hope he will achieve his goal.
Even though you asked me not to follow you on linkedin because of "political disagreements," I still support your vision for the future of energy production. Kind regards, Arjan
Gordon might be a naive liberal, but I am happy to stand with him to bring about a better world powered by Nuclear energy. He has done outstanding work.
First time I hear Kirk or anyone, about getting the protactinium out of the blanket salt, or getting fission products out of the core salt. Love to hear that they find ways to do this, because this is what will take us closer to an actual operational reactor.
I've been looking for a recent video featuring Kirk, (I'm a ChE, and I love Thorium potential, ((... even with corrosion, just change the parts, or find a solution, ... we can do it, ...)) ),,, this new video popped-up,,,
Kirk is a great speaker and 'up' on the all the Thorium technology. ...
Nice video editing Gordon.
I love listening to Kirk Sorensen. He has a wonderful command of thorium and its nuclear chemistry. I wish that the DOE would get more interested in developing nuclear energy. We need a second Manhattan Project directed at developing ways to convert thorium into energy generation and the chemistry that can use its high heat to make fertilizers, distilled water, manufacture fuels, and do thousands of other chemical processes.
I think the final step of using thorium as a fuel will be as a liquid salt.
Holy crap, you're not dead!
My nephew works at a solid fuel nuclear power plant. He revealed that the operators are looking forward to installing an MSR on site, but not a thorium reactor. They want a waste burning MSR. They do not obect to having a thorium blanket in which to breed U233, indeed they recognize the potential of U233 being denatured with U238 and used to fabricate fuel rods, as an alternative fuel for their current reactor, but the main goal is to burn the waste from their current reactor.
Kirk talked about an SNF burning MSR with a thorium blanket, the very reactor you are describing in the video. It’s a very appealing option both for reduction in waste profile and for the potential to build LFTR’s later.
Unfortunately, a number of plants and utilities I am familiar with have said they arent looking to do anything about their waste problem because no one is making them do anything. You should encourage your nephew to reach out to Flibe if there is genuine interest in a waste burning msr.
Exodus Energy is specifically focused on recycling Slightly Used Nuclear Fuel from LWRs, CANDUs, & thermal MSRs, SFRs, LFRs, or open cycle MCFRs, like TerraPower's. Just not TRISO, since it is not economically recyclable, yet only reaches 10% burnup at most, leaving 90% unused.
any adoption of molten salts is beneficial
Kirk is and has been one of the most influential people in the thorium community for years and l have learned a lot from his podcasts that I try to pass on to others which sometimes can be difficult because most people don’t understand the technology and or don’t want to take time to learn about it . Pretty sad since just about everything they touch needs some form of energy which keeps going up no matter where it’s coming from because of all the different suppliers.
Until TMS Reactors finally come online ,we will have a lot of JP Morgans keep trying to hold it back all for their own mighty bucks and not the people as a whole .
Most excellent.
Beautiful video editing!
I want a space rated LFTR, to put on a starship, to power an BIG laser and an ion thruster array. This craft will cruise 10,000,000 miles longside Apophis and hit it a few million times. Each hit will push Apophis a tiny bit. When it's on a million years safe course, land the starship to mark Apophis as company property with the radar reflector in the starships nose... Now you can sell shares of an asteroid currently threatening Earth. Not kidding. We really ought to do this thing.
Ah you like to prey on idiots eh?
KIRK ROCKS!
Love this. All good.
Thanks!
Thanx guy
I’m so mad I miss this talk.
This is so good, I saved to "Tesla stuff" 🚀
Nice to hear Kirk again!
Animations where awesome dude
A battery that uses strontium-90, harnessing emitted beta particles as electricity, would be awesome. The half-life of strontium-90 is 29 years.
Wish I had some strontium-90 batteries in my golf cart :)
But how much of it would you need to run something reasonably useful?
Seems to me that a battery like that would be on the scale of nanobots.
That kind of battery already exists / has been in development for quite a while. Not sure if it uses Sr-90 but it works by beta decay. Very small current though, about 0.1 milli-amps at 2 volts.
Strontium-90 has been used previously in Soviet Russia, with tragic results. Look up Lia radiological accident.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, ideas and videos. Always nice to see a new video posted concerning this technology even if there is very little new concepts being portrayed. It’s important to keep the information fresh so new people can learn of its benefits.
A question I’d like asked is concerning the xenon production during operation. I know that in current reactors they operate to minimize xenon production. Can the fuel cycle be tuned to maximize xenon production and how much is created during operations. Could enough xenon be made to use as a propellant in a space craft by the reactor that is powering the spacecraft.
I don't think there's much influence at all over how much Xenon is produced per-fission, but with liquid fuel we have a choice between keeping it all in the flux and deliberately letting it absorb neutrons, or to move it from out of the flux and retain all the Xenon which is created.
@@gordonmcdowell thanks for the reply, my personal experience was as a system operator that provided transmission for a nuclear BWR. Often had to deal with limitations on plant due to xenon and the need to remove it prior to increased loading on the plant. Have been an avid fan of various forms of power generation including space technology amongst others. Recently watched an interview with Elon Musk in which he said Nuclear really wasn’t an option in space since you still need a propellant that it can’t provide. And me thinking is there more than one element called xenon? Seem to remember seeing it as a possible propellant in electric rocket engines and that it’s also made in nuclear reactors. Curious that I know something that Elon either doesn’t or doesn’t mind pretending not to know.
You love to see the quality of the animations go up
Other than the reference to LIFTR I saw no references to the Lithium Fluoride salt so can you comment on whether this would work with a Thorium + Sodium-Berilium Fluoride salt reactor?
Could a ThorCon TMSR next Gen, utilise this Protactinium blanket and waste process?
Essential for Mars in view of planet-wide cyclic dust storms. Kirk and Elon should have a chat. 😎
Glad to see inside the protactinium removal step. Was the main thing I didn't understand about the process.
So its got molten bismuth in the cell. Is the bismuth going to react with the floride at all?
Interesting that bismuth and FLiBe have very similar melting and boiling points. approx 300C melt and 1500C boil.
I have been following up on this for quite some time particularly his design. I’m aware that he uses graphite moderator and that the majority of the vessel will contain graphite.
I do have a few questions though.
How long will the graphite moderator last before it needs replacing, or will it be the entire housing with the graphite inside that is going to be replaced with a new one?
Also what do they plan to do with the vessels containing the used graphite?
Can the spent graphite be extracted with some items being recycled while others safely disposed of?
Obvious question.
Do ceramics have graphite as a reinforcement mechanism?
How long till Thorium Molten Salt Reactor? there going to need something to power up ITER if they ever get it working. I was hoping he would answer the corrosion problem question raised, because that the first thing that is often brought up in a discussion.
Robert A Heinlein wrote a short book about the reactor,early 70 s
Id like to see a discussion between Kurt Sorensen and Ed Pheil re the virtues of fast spectrum or thermal spectrum reactor designs.
If only government was as interested in solving problems like energy, waste disposal, medical usages as they are in killing as many people as possible in the shortest period of time, then there would already be a Manhattan project in full swing to resolve the remaining issues with Thorium-MSRs. The fact that we do NOT currently have a Manhattan project like approach tells me far too many politicians and departments of this and that, are well controlled by lobbyists.
I'd like to ask Kirk… If you had the budget of ITER, where would we be today?
Is it possible to have a fissile materials processing plants next to these reactors, where they can transmute long lived isotopes into much shorter lived isotopes, in order to minimize long term storage?
My back of the envelope calculations determine that “burning” nuclear waste in a thermal reactor is painfully slow. The transmutation percentages of the 7 long-lived fission products in a CANDU going full blast (neutron flux of 10¹³ n/cm²/s) for 20 years are: 27% for selenium-79; iodine-129 17%; technetium-99 13.8%; palladium-107 5.67%; caesium-135 5.10%; zirconium-93 1.4%; and worst of all tin-126 0.06%.
The neutron flux in a LFTR may be higher, increasing the rate of processing.
This seems promising.
or should i say, *still* seems promising... Is there something here that hasn't been part of the concept for a long time? Any news or progress?
Is neon in that mix?
I really hope this works!
Wait, so you can essentially recycle and thus mitigate the hazards of long term storage of nuclear waste?
Can a flour fuel be used.
1.5 decades since i first came accross this guy. Nothing has come to fruition
that's because nuclear anything in the USA is so politically entangled that nothing can happen except on glacial time scales. Wouldn't surprise me if this idea still hasn't been given a fair shake even after all this time.
@@lexpox329 Really? Westinghouse AP1000 fully NRC approved for construction and operation but these projects FAILED due to cost over runs. NuScale SMR fully NRC approved for construction and operation, $2 billion in taxpayer money and government land on which to build free of charge but the project was canceled due to ballooning construction cost. Nuclear projects are complex and too costly and politics has NOTHING to do with that
@@clarkkent9080 You can be sure, as it was already proven to be true, that if the USA needed a more powerful and rapid killing machine, a 2nd Manhattan project would already be underway. Even though cheap clean energy might be a byproduct with waste reduction and medical use at the forefront, there are enough lobbyists and politicians willing to sell us out, to assure the existing energy industry is not threatened by a Thorium-MSR.
🥰😀😃😄😁😆Kirk, Good afternoon from Lismore, NSW.🌏 I followed you for four years when I had STROKE, 👍and I'm still here👍
⌛13th & 14th April 2024⌛ - We are having a field day - 🌞Bi-directional Charging - 🌞Battery Electric Vehicles & Renewable Energy, 🌏Lismore Workers Sports Club.🌏
I am getting a 🌠TESLA Y and TESLA 3 🌠next year. I have a complete package to hire the ⚡TESLA⚡ to the public.
We will be on the Gold Coast, Queensland,🌏 at about the end of May next year. In future, I shall buy CYBERTRUCK when they come to 🌏🌏AUSTRALIA🌏🌏. 👍I am a PROJECT MANGERS and CIVIL ENGINEER who has worked in Singapore & Hong Kong doing TBM & managing 160 engineers.👍
1A Ehrenmann.
I don’t know if this is real or fake information but there is a TH-cam video showing and MSR operating in China.?? I wish you nothing but success!
One man trying to save the world, I have to question why there hasn't been any major government support into these reactors. Especially with the feigned concern over climate change. I would like to see an energy future without scarcity, I do hope this technology will function one day. Solar and wind are not the answer.
I have not seen any progress towards making thorium reactor and Kirk Sorensen lectures are since more than decades. Now I am gonna doubt that its a lie .
So the last question that was asked was about I&C instruments and corrosion. When you say corrosion are you talking about the kind of corrosion where salt water eats away at the metal parts of a ship with all the pitting and removal of metal? And that corrosion would be inside the pipes of the reactor where the molten salt is flowing where you can't see it unless you remove the pipe and look down inside of the pipe.
Yes, as I understand it that what is going on. The acoustic monitoring is interesting though, because that would let you know when a part is reaching end of life without having to take it apart to look. Then once its past tolerance, then shut down the system and rebuild the requisite components and start it up again. If the downtime can be infrequent like once a year or something then it could be viable.
@@lexpox329 I agree the acoustic monitoring is like an ultra sound very non invasive no need to break the system open. but does the system need to be shut down because of heat issues while doing the acoustic monitoring? or can they do it while the system is running @ normal operating temps? 600 to 800 C seems a bit hot for me to get to close with an acoustic monitoring device, I'd hate to have to wear a baked potato suit to get the sampling done.
Why salt? Can something less cerosive be used?
I wish some responsible leaders respond to this committed ( to the cause of public) Scientist
🎉🎉🎉
👍 👍
Great chit chat.
But scale it up and having a workable project would be better.
What is the time frame for a working thorium MSR ??
Not sure what you mean by "scale it up." Also the term "project." There are a couple of different kinds of "projects". All kinds are based on actionable objectives (rather than "goals" which are not actionable). All projects have different levels of achievability and realism...and hence are managed with different methodologies. Projects are defined as, "...a series of structured tasks, activities, and deliverables that are carefully executed to achieve a desired outcome. They are temporary efforts to create value through unique products, services and processes." For example, consider an ice cream shop that wants to start selling Gelato. This objective is completely realistic and achievable. The solutions are well-defined and the tasks, durations, and budget to achieve the outcome are well-known. Hence, the project can be tracked with the classic method where tasks are performed an a certain order ("waterfall" or "critical path") along with tasks that can be performed in parallel at any time during the critical path execution, the duration of which,defines the total project duration.
We see in this presentation that Kirk has defined the desired outcome exceedingly well, however the achievability and realism of certain deliverables are not known...so they are defining solutions that must be put in place to get to the desired outcome. This kind of effort is known as "agile" where discovery must be done through experimentation...trial and error, essentially. On a basic level Agile method defines a certain periods of time given to the scientists to achieve a particular aspect of the solution known as a "sprints" or "iterations." Hopefully each iteration results in positive outcomes....however they may not. The team then evaluates the progress of a sprint and defines the research tasks for the next one.
So when you ask for a "time frame" this may not be known...and there may be a multitude of these iterations going forward...which take time...and a helluva a lot of money and resources. Maybe what you mean by "scale it up" is finding more money and resources. Some government funding would be nice. But the only government funded LFTR effort in the world is underway by the Chinese.
@@timmundorff2354 So Tim, what is the "time frame" for "your solution" to be "scaled up" for a viable "project" or potential "iteration": or would that be "sprints"?
Moving on, and slightly sideways purely for example because I am not a fan of Gelato:
It seems that team evaluation towards the progress of a sprint associated with fusion can be elusive. It is not uncommon to hear statements covering a multitude of iterations going forward that fusion is 8-10 years away. It is always 8-10 years away.
For those involved; data is good. Research, iterations, trial & error are to a large degree removed from real world everyday markets. Some might give credence to the geo-political military-industrial influence directed at certain areas of scientific endeavour. There is a need for the achievability and realism of fusion and fission. Those global points are patently obvious. Thus the use of "scale it up and have a workable . . . ." seems to lack some sort of clarity for you. A better description could have been; when will the sum total of agile methods presented in this specific vid as outlined by Kirk result in a economically/financially viable power plant delivering energy to the national grid ? There have been very few experimental reactors and even less power reactors using the Thorium fuel cycle. Some individuals involved in nuclear research & development think Thorium of good, others do not. I congratulate all individuals working towards improving energy supply via next generation nuclear research. The hope is that SMR designs can be part of the energy mix sooner; rather than perpetually viewed as iterations going forward.
@@timmundorff2354 hey Tim; no scaled up goals, achievable realisms, methodologies, deliverables, well defined solutions, critical path executions, classical methods, agile efforts, sprints, iterations and presentations you might be wanting to bang on about ???
I totally support this work. But for FS... Why isn't MUSK or GATES funding this work?
Gates is funding Terrapower.
They don't think it is viable.
Those frontmen are decoys of the army set against us all.
The J#$U|T$.
they have everything to lose if Thorium works.
One of the arguments against molten salt is the chemistry getting out of spec and fissionable material settling out of solution and causing unplanned excursions. Is this an unfounded risk?
The chemistry doesn't change unless you change it.
While I am neither physicist, chemist, nor nuclear engineer, and haven't studied in these fields in depth, I know that the MSRE, running between June '65 and December '69, produced over 90 GWh thermal (324 TJ), the equivalent of running at full power continuously for a year and 3 months, and to my knowledge never had an excursion. It generated first with ²³⁵U, and then for the last 1½ years it generated with ²³³U.
@@generaljackripper666exactly, the dude is asking the same thing the others have... but to answer you, it is an unfounded risk, it's too hot physically to get at the fuel (the fuel runs at 650 celsius), and it's too hot cause the release of gamma bursts it would kill you with to get at it....
@@no_rubbernecking it has since had all the actinides taken out of the salt solution and put into storage at the Y-12 plant storage vault....the salt still remains in the drain sump at the MSRE building....
@@generaljackripper666 I f you study the LFTR design you see that it's a fairly advanced chemical plant. Chemistry is continuously monitored and changing. LFTR practically has a liver and kidneys to keep the fuel salts stable. Thorium is added and things are removed/recycled. Physicists have argued that if the fuel chemistry goes out of certain tolerances the fissionable materials can settle to the bottom of containment causing an unwanted criticality. It's rarely discussed by fans of the technology. So the question becomes, is someone being alarmist? Or is it a dirty little secret that we will "figure out when the time comes"? I've heard arguments both ways. I have never heard Kirk mention it.
we have 30 tons of plutonium?! man , at a critical mass of a few kilo's , thats a hell of a lot of small containers , that are separated , sheilded , and carefully monitored , guarded and feared!
By using thorium salts as an initial heat source for a Stirling engine, combined with an efficient heat pump to extract heat from the surrounding Ocean. And better battery packs.
A submarine can be built that is much quieter than a modern nuclear sub. For less than half the cost.
Since mention was made of this idea online China has announced it is going to try to develop this technology. It would be wise for western countries to keep up.
Sweden has already developed Stirling subs which were very successful in war game simulation.
The US Navy must consider alternatives to steam which is very noisy.
Are you still planning to use super critical CO2?
Can we use excess neutrons to burn our nuclears waste in that process ?
Don't think thermal-spectrum neutrons do as much good as fast-spectrum when trying to transmute waste.
@@gordonmcdowell i know. Cross section is much higher
EXCESS? Breeder reactors already "waste" neutrons to convert Th232 into usable U233 and are from the start inefficient. Now you wanna divert more neutrons from producing power from U233 fission to waste irradiation?
👏👏👏👏💯🔝🥇
Why was Thorium abamdonned at Oak Ridge in the 60's ? Military plutonium production ?
technical issues and cost plain and simple
@@clarkkent9080 nope. No.plutonium. Military won.again
@@Oliveir51 Where do people keep coming up with this BS that Thorium was abandoned and Uranium based PWR/BWR were chosen so we could make bombs?
Hanford Wa. has been making weapons material, at their 9 reactors, since 1944, 12 years before the first U.S. commercial nuclear plant became operational and their weapons production reactors are very efficient graphite moderated reactors and DO NOT produce any electrical power.
Savannah River site SC. Has been making weapons material since 1955 and their 5 production reactors are very efficient low pressure heavy water moderated reactors and DO NOT produce electric power.
Thorium was tried at Shippingport and Indian Point commercial reactors in the 1970s and abandoned as too costly compared to Uranium.
Weapons production reactors are NOTHING like U.S. commercial PWR or BWR power reactors and commercial power reactors have NEVER been used to produce Pu239 for weapons, since there has never been a need beyond what the efficient weapons production reactors could provide..
The U.S. currently literally has hundreds of TONS of Pu239 (takes less than 20 pounds per weapon). The U.S. has so much that 34 tons of weapon grade Pu239 is being treated so it can eventually be disposed of at a cost of billions.
Your comment is like saying automobiles use gas engine because the military wanted jet fighters. God help us that people base their knowledge on social media and YT videos.
@@Oliveir51 If it can kill in great numbers, government will give it a Manhattan project like approach. If it can only give energy, waste disposal, medical miracles, not so much.
That decay of Pa to U233 releases energy, doesn't it? In what form would it be? Hope not Gamma
A hell of a lot of gamma yes, that's why the idea of someone stealing it is so unlikely.
@@bobthebomb1596 So the containment during this stage would have to be somewhat excessive, I guess
@@upresins He does talk about being able to handle it, so "excessive" might not be the word. It would certainly ruin your day (all of your few remaining days in fact) if you tried to remove the material without proper shielding though.
@@bobthebomb1596 🙂 Thanks
Pa 233 -> U233 is the result of beta decay.
Really exciting model/presentation. What are the chances of this really happening. 🤔
It seems that our only hope is the Chinese on this one.
Lol, I don't even think the Mission Impossible series could handle a mock scenario involving the theft of U233
"...and we'll deploy some gamma detectors-"
"No. Nope nope nope. I'm thinking more along the line of... noise detectors... and motion detectors."
"We're not really playing to the strengths of..."
"...and if any sound or motions is detected, then we release neurotoxin!"
"That's now how fissile security works."
"THEN MAKE IT HOW IT WORKS!!!"
(And I have no idea how fissile security works.)
Sorry, gotta ask...
Have you tried Graphene?
... I'll walk myself out now
Graphite moderator is essentially sheets of graphene
@@skylerallen7256 so I wasn't that off the mark.
Thank you there
Xe is the poison in an "old fashion" reactor, and here :)
xe convieniently bubbles out of a liquid fuel reactor! another "magic" advantage of molten salts, that and the near 100% burn-up of fuel! and atmospheric pressure, the unique property of uranium of being removeable as a gas [ uf6] form blanket salt , and .....
So, why don't we have these reactors now?
Because the overall system is much harder to do than they first thought and the regulators don't have a clue how to regulate it.
According to John Madden, "When the question is why, the answer is usually MONEY."
@@markfinley3703 Flibe chose to develop its reactor in the US, so they are working under the NRC regulations. If the NRC approves a reactor design then no one will be able to afford it. NuScale just proved that.
Neat! Manual captions!
Edit: 11:28 Nuclear Non-proliferation treaty question.
Update: I was a little disappointed by the answer. I live in a country that is not officially a nuclear power.
22:05 Second diversion question.
A: It is hot/easy to notice (reactor) missing. Looking at packaging to detect diversion. Have a report available.
The US needs a number of modern missiles to replace very old missiles. But can use the same old warheads with some rework. Possibly replacing tritium. So no new bombs are needed at present. China is a growing threat . Some of the missiles are very old and may be hard to maintain. Tritium can be useful for neutron production in the warhead.
When will this get experimental reactor?
The NRC says never.
@@chapter4travels what is NRC and why?
@@metju30 The American Nuclear Regulatory Commission whose primary mission is to destroy domestic nuclear power in the US and any other country that they have influence in. No one hates nuclear more than the NRC.
@@metju30 "The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) was created as an independent agency by Congress in 1974 to ensure the safe use of radioactive materials for beneficial civilian purposes while protecting people and the environment." Google search.
@@metju30 Nuclear Rejection Commission - LOL
I've been following for several years, and I'm honestly not hearing about our seeing any progress towards a working system. Kinda starting to feel like it'll never happen.
Understatement, five years elapsed, same hype, grossly disappointing.
@@MrZoomZone some of the biggest videos on this channel are over 10 years old.
Look up the Chinese Gobi desert thorium molten salt reactor ... also look up Copenhagen Atomics
We in the U.S. broke ground this year (2023) on our first LFTR since the ORNL experiment. The Dutch are working on one with EU support. Regulatory authorities are actively slowing the pace of progress.
I like how you think it's possible to just take out a permit and build something of this nature. There's 50,000 hoops to jump through, even without the government agencies throwing more hoops at you every day of the week.
Kirk, you need to get on Joe Rogan!
I've always thought this, he'd be great on Lex Friedman too. Something like that happening would create a lot of extra grassroots support for MSRs which might help with its development and adoption.
Kirk's tritium problem will forego it as the one unit needed. For power worldwide. Elysiums molten chloride salt fast reactor design seems best to me as the flibe design will have too much waste to deal with, with all the radiated carbon waste and the tritium release to the environment.
Go on back. When countries popped off nukes left and right. Well, all kinds of tritium was released. We're sill here bro!!
First principles Kirk understands. Less fizzle in Kirk's v Ed's reactor. Negative reactivity propensity for both is claimed. But Ed's has all kinds of fizzle in that fast reactor of his. There are no absolutes. Only trade-offs. Liquid fuel salts done right - and I'm OK.
I've missed the captain. Need to team him up with the new starship. The big "E." I live in a ironical simulation!! Get it. Just connect bro.
Who is the big "E"?
You know who he is!!
Surely politics and bureaucracy drags its concept down.
But you will have a problem with the pipes that transports those liquides. And that isn't solved yet...