2
Sustainable Abundance
The Technology Prospectus
T
he Energy From Thorium Foundation (EFTF) is dedicated to telling the world
gas and coal •
(and legislators) about the potential economic and social impacts of low-
cost, plentiful, and clean energy from thorium. The Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor (LFTR) is
make many other technologies economically viable
•
and can nearly eliminate CO2 emissions from electrical generation.
This may sound too good to be true, but we
the machine that can make this low-cost, plentiful
hope you will read on to understand a little better
and clean energy from thorium a reality. LFTR
how LFTR technology can deliver these benefits
technology addresses many of society’s needs
and more.
and commercialization of LFTR technology is of great importance to all Americans. LFTR can help address a wide array of issues:
Surprisingly, LFTR is based on 1960’s moltensalt reactor technology that we are just now pulling off the United States’ technology shelf.
•
Energy Independence
There were understandable reasons to leave
•
Energy Security
this technology on a shelf during the Cold War,
•
Carbon Dioxide Emissions
as there were other pressing problems more
•
Global Warming
demanding of nuclear research.
•
Climate Change
•
Nuclear Waste Remediation
•
and even Cancer Treatment
After reading this Technology Prospectus we hope your organization can see the potential benefit to America and the world in supporting
Energy from thorium in the form of hightemperature process heat from LFTRs can:
this non-profit foundation to educate the public and advance private development of this technology.
•
greatly reduce landfill waste
•
reduce oil imports with production of
William Thesling PhD.
synthetic gasoline and diesel fuel
Executive Chairman
•
desalinate sea water
Publisher
•
produce electricity cost competitive with
Energy From Thorium Foundation
www.Th90.org
3
Thorium PUBLISHER Energy From Thorium Foundation
EDITORIAL Editor: Don Larson Phone: (216) 274-1091 Email: dlarson@th90.org
CONTRIBUTORS Kirk Sorensen Dr. Bill Thesling Don Larson
contents 04
Thorium, the amazing element that you likely have not heard about,
14
and how it can change the world.
Mark Vanderaar Kirk Dorius David Amerine
A brief History of Thorium and LFTR including $1billion dollars and 50 years of research and experimentation.
06 08
Sustainable AbundanceTM, ever wonder what the world would be
technology may just bring about
energy as they needed or wanted?
the next great technology and
What would be different if America was the largest oil producer in
18
SAFETY Dave Amerine MARKETING AND CONSULTING Dr. Bill Thesling
world.
Kirk Dorius
Some Like it Hot, how LFTR’s process heat can benefit product costs.
DONATION OPPORTUNITIES Mark Vanderaar GENERAL ENQUIRIES Don Larson
an asset instead of a liability? What make CO2-free electricity?
Kirk Sorensen
manufacturing boom for the
industry and help lower common What if legacy nuclear waste was if nuclear waste could be used to
12
Helping develop LFTR
like if everyone had as much
the world?
10
16
Windows of Opportunity
TECHNOLOGY
20
ENVIRONMENTAL
The inherent safety of LFTR and its small footprint can help
Dr. Robert Hargraves
revolutionize the electrical grid. What if our nuclear power plants also produced a promising
COPYRIGHT
cancer treatment? Some research
Copyright 2013 Energy From Thorium
scientists believe that the Actinium
Foundation; all rights reserved. While the
225 produced during operation of a LFTR to be one of the most
Foundation takes care to ensure information is
promising therapies for dispersed
correct at the time of printing, it disclaims any
cancers.
responsibility or liability for reliance on such information.
Thorium
4
Sustainable Abundance
A Technology Prospectus
What is this amazing element? Why have you not heard of thorium energy before? and How it can change the world!
A Technology Prospectus www.Th90.org
T
5
THORIUM
horium has been the lesser-known nuclear
for fertilizers and as
manufacturing equipment to home appliances that
fuel, but the Energy From Thorium
as liquid fuels that
enhance the quality of our lives. It should come as
Foundation (EFTF) is working to raise
power machinery for
no surprise that most measures of
awareness of how this abundant,
manufacturing, farming,
“standard of living” correlate strongly with “energy
inexpensive element can solve the world’s energy
construction,
consumption per capita.” Energy is simply essential
problems.
and transportation.
to every aspect of our modern day world.
Thorium is an element that exists throughout the
Energy in the form
Energy dramatically improves the human condition
earth’s crust in average concentrations of about
of electricity powers
and allows us to live much more productive,
12 ppm (about as common as lead). Some sites
a vast assortment
convenient and enjoyable lives. Modern society
have concentrations of up to about 100,000 ppm.
of devices, from
will forever be dependent on our ability to reliably
Thorium is extremely energy dense. One pound of
generate energy. Historically, the most economical
thorium contains the energy equivalent of
and abundant supplies of energy today have been
1,100 tons of coal, or 6,000 barrels of oil.
fossil fuels, namely oil, coal, and natural gas. These
Energy is needed in many forms to sustain human
currently supply approximately 80% of our energy
life and our complex society. Energy is needed in
needs. Lately, sustainability of Fossil Fuel energy
the form of light and heat to support life all over
supplies is of increasing concern with the prospects
the Earth. Energy in the form of food sustains our
of “peak oil” or “peak cheap oil” and irreversible
physical bodies. Energy in chemical form is used
climate change. Are the CO2 emissions, the socalled carbon footprint, from the burning of fossil
““If we do not find significant new energy resources, world energy demands will soon outstrip world energy production”
fuels altering our climate and the air we breathe? Countries around the world are rapidly pursuing western-level lifestyles, most notably India and China, each with populations over one billion. How will the geopolitical dynamics of limited energy resources affect the world with such a large demand for energy and such a constrained supply? Can we find new sources of energy to meet these needs or will competition for finite resources escalate into more global conflicts? Radically increasing our supplies of energy and fuel is our best bet to maintain a civilized world despite everincreasing and wide-scale development. Thorium energy produced in a Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor (LFTR ) offers a profound potential to change our future global resource perspective to one of “Sustainable Abundance” for all!
“Thorium has largely been ignored by the world yet, it is potentially, its most abundant and cleanest energy resource”
6
A Technology Prospectus
Sustainable Abundance
Sustainable Abundance Imagine a future where energy is both inexpensive and plentiful.
opportunities for innovation in new areas
thermal energy for direct process heat
through desalination of sea water.
Global water shortages can be averted
and usher in new technologies to raise
usage or for driving electric power
Ammonia fertilizers can dramatically
the standard of living for everyone.
generation equipment to create abundant
increase crop yields allowing for plentiful
The question is: How do we produce
food to be produced with less land. With
inexpensive plentiful energy? How do we
application of fresh water and fertilizers,
produce energy with little or no negative
will absorb a neutron and become
most arid land can readily be made fertile
environmental effects. Is there any
Uranium-233. The Uranium-233 will
to support diverse agricultural products.
energy reserve so plentiful that we can
fission upon absorption of yet another
Even liquid transportation fuels can be
produce electricity indefinitely?
neutron, releasing its tremendous
synthesized.
Thorium is such an energy resource
electricity. Within a LFTR, natural thorium,
stored energy and additional neutrons
and the Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor
to continue the cycle. This energy is
The common ingredient for each
(LFTR) is the machine best suited to
deposited in the liquid-salt fuel as
of these critical products and
efficiently extract the energies from
massive amounts of heat. Fission of
processes is energy. Inexpensive,
thorium. LFTR can transform thorium into
U-233 in LFTR is similar to fission of
inexpensive, abundant, high-temperature
U-235 in conventional nuclear reactors.
T
plentiful energy would create
1
2
3
Natural Gas
Coal
Nuclear Energy
America is now considered the Saudi
Coal and natural gas will continue
America has about 100 commercial
Arabia of Natural Gas with vast
to be primary fuels for electricity
Nuclear Reactors, second only to
reserves in various types of geologic
generation until the next generation of
Russia.
formations. Hydraulic fracturing and
nuclear, LFTR, is widely adopted. Then
China has plans and the political will
horizontal drilling have fundamentally
coal and natural gas can be applied to
to build many more nuclear reactors
changed the dynamics of the natural
higher value uses such as liquid fuels
than either Russia
gas industry in America’s favor.
for transportion produced in part using
or America over the next 50 years.
America’s near-term economic growth
the high-temerature process heat and
will be fueled significantly by the
electricity generated by LFTRs.
natural gas industry.
Sustainable Abundance www.Th90.org
7
However, this is where the similarities end. One basic LFTR configuration is depicted on page 7. The LFTR includes two liquid salt flows in the core, a fuel salt containing fissile U-233 and a blanket salt containing fertile Thorium. In particular, the fuel salt includes Lithium Fluoride, Beryllium Fluoride, Zirconium Fluoride and Uranium Tetrafluoride. The blanket salt is similar, but with Thorium tetrafluorde instead of Uranium Tetrafluoride. The properties of these salts allow for the LFTR to operate safely and efficiently by nature. The result is a reactor that is simple and of low cost. Three Properties of a LFTR Reaction Property #1 is that the salts are so chemically stable that they remain liquid (do not boil) up to very high temperatures of 1400 C (over 2500 F) at atmospheric pressure. Because
“LFTR waste needs only be sequestered from the environment for 300 years instead of 30,000 years.”
of this tremendous low-pressure liquid range, LFTR does not require a massive, coslty pressure vessel. Without chemical reactivity or high-pressures, there is no “stored energy” to drive atmospheric release of radioactive fission products. This greatly improves the safety of the
(Kirk Sorensen LFTR advocate and
reactor and greatly reduces the cost.
Flibe Energy executive)
LFTR’s high -temperature operation allows for more-efficient generation of electricity or process heat useful, most notably, to synthesize transportation fuels, ammonia fertilizers and hydrogen.
of fission products (many of which
Because there are no unused fuel,
Property #2
are valuable and useful in medical,
transuranics or solid fuel cladding in
is that the salt chemistry retains the most
industrial and reseach applications).
LFTR’s waste stream, both the quantity
problematic fission products in solution,
Continous fission product extraction
and longevity of LFTR’s waste stream
further reducing the risk of atmospheric
keeps the reactor’s inventory of fission
are greatly reduced relative to spent
releases. The liquid fuel form also allows
products low, again greatly reducing
LWR fuel. The result is that a LFTR
for the draining of the fuel from the core
the risk of release of radioactive
produces a very small fraction of
into a set of drain tanks configured to
material in the event of a cataclysmic
the waste of a conventional nuclear
dissipate residual heat from decay of
event. Additionally, long-lived
reactor, and this waste need only be
fission products.
transuranics can be left in the fuel salt
stored for 1% of the time required for
until they are eventually consumed
conventional spent fuel. This greatly
Property #3
and destroyed, excluding them from
reduces the associated costs and
is that the fuel and blanket salts can be
the waste stream. The presence of
environmental impacts of nuclear
processed on-line. This is important for
transuranics in conventional spent
waste by a factor of 100.
efficient reactor operation as some fission
nuclear fuel from Light Water Reactors
products otherwise hinder the fission
(LWRs) necessitates long- term storage,
reaction. This also allows for continuous
on the order of tens-of-thousands of
refueling and continuous extraction
years.
8
Sustainable Abundance
A Technology Prospectus
Shale Oil
and Thorium can fuel the world
At least for a hundred years or so. This would enable energy independence and energy security for America. Developing LFTRs to harvest shale oil means more oil more quickly and cheaply and means more jos for Americans!
Story by
Jon Morrow
O
ver the next 50 years,
increases in carbon dioxide releases per
heating the underground reservoir
the world energy
liter of liquid transport fuel produced.
duplicates the distillation and thermal
industry will undergo an
These could be greatly reduced by
cracking processes found in a refinery.”
unprecedented transition
refining in situ, where carbon residue
This option has become potentially viable
from limited fossil fuels
would remain underground sequestered
because of three technical developments:
as carbon solids (coal).
“precision drilling, underground
to abundant thorium as a nuclear fuel. Transformational drivers of our energy markets include the fear of possible climate change, pollution, and energy
isolation of geological formations with
Underground Refining
security, e.g., dependency upon foreign oil from historically unstable countries.
freeze walls, and the understanding that the slow heating of heavy hydrocarbons (vs. fast heating) increases the yield of light
The concept for underground refining
oils while producing a high-carbon solid
is simple, he says. The hydrocarbon
residue.” Furthermore, the high temperatures
deposit is heated to high temperatures,
required are within the capabilities
and refining liquid fuels using high-
and as temperatures increase, volatile
of proposed high-temperature reactors, such
temperature heat from nuclear
hydrocarbons vaporize and move toward
as salt-cooled and salt-fueled reactors.
reactors can potentially resolve two
recovery wells. They condense in the
Environmental advantages of in situ
major problems—dependence on oil
cooler zones and can then be pumped
refining include the reduction of toxic
from unstable areas of the world and
out of the ground as liquids or vapor.
heavy metals from the surface environment,
greenhouse gas emissions—says MIT
“This distillation process leaves most
by leaving them in the ground, avoiding
nuclear engineer Charles W. Forsberg.
impurities behind,” Forsberg says. “While
the handling of many carcinogens in the
capillary forces can hold liquids in cracks
refinery processing of hydrocarbons, and
Like all other oil recovery technologies,
in the rock, gasses more easily
underground sequestration of the carbon
the applicability of the technology will
permeate most reservoir barriers. As the
from the thermal cracking process.
depend upon the local geology. Only field
temperature further increases, heavier
testing can determine the capabilities
hydrocarbons will be thermally cracked
and limits of the technology. The heavy
to produce lighter volatile hydrocarbons
oil refining trend also implies large
that can then be recovered. In effect,
Technological advances in producing
A Technology Prospectus www.Th90.org
Shale Oil and Thorium can fuel the World High-temperature extraction of liquid hydrocarbons could offer energy independence and energy security
9
heating to 370° C. to release the oil.
energy, Forsberg says. With other
Higher temperatures could significantly
electric heating options, electricity is
reduce the number of required heaters or
generated from heat at the power plant
decrease the heating time.
and the electricity is then converted
The Nuclear Alternative
for America for several hundred years.
back to heat at the site. The direct use of heat from a nuclear reactor avoids the losses inherent in these energy
Application of LFTR technology to harvesting
The nuclear option could conduct
conversions. The use of
shale oil means more oil more quickly and
high-temperature heat from reactors
an intermediate heat transport loop
cheaply and means more jobs for Americans!
to oil shale via the very high process
also allows recovery of some of the
Sequestration of carbon as solid carbon
heat produced by a LFTR. The distances
heat following oil extraction, and the
is known to work, but “the jury is still out
from reactor to wellhead can be
recovered heat can be reused to partly
for large-scale sequestration of gaseous
minimized, making proposed use of
heat the next oil-bearing rock. This can
carbon dioxide,” Forsberg said. Any
high-temperature heat (nearly 700°
reduce heat requirements by a factor of
constraints on greenhouse gas releases
C.) from a Thorium Molten Salt Reactor
about 2 relative to electric heating or
would provide large economic incentives
(such as LFTR ) to refine (underground)
combustion heating of oil-bearing rock.
to use nuclear energy for liquid fuels
hydrocarbon feedstocks including heavy
production.
oils, tar sands, oil shale, and coal to
Nuclear process heat avoids carbon
produce light distillates requiring little
dioxide emissions and greatly reduces
In addition, it may be possible to undertake
additional refining to produce gasoline,
water requirements. In addition, with
hydrocracking by injecting hydrogen into the
diesel, and jet fuel.
nuclear heat, none of the recovered
subsurface while it is being heated, Forsberg
products need be burned to provide
said. “However, this option has not been
Underground refining also could recover
heat. thus, a light, stable crude oil
seriously investigated.”
remaining oil in depleted oil fields.
can be produced leaving impurities
In addition, Dr. Forsberg said in the
in the ground and requires relatively
Underground hydrocracking could
interim, with major retrofitting at large
little refining. A high-temperature
potentially increase liquid hydrcarbon
refineries, nuclear energy could replace
nuclear reactor can directly produce
yields.
more-costly natural gas in providing high-
the necessary heat. “Good economics
temperature heat at existing refineries
requires long-term base-load
and could be used for producing
operations,” says Forsberg.
Shell’s in situ process
hydrogen in the long term. The hightemperature heat could be used for
“Technical challenges associated
types of in situ retorting, however, that
Shell and others have developed new
distillation and thermal cracking—the
with nuclear energy use for oil shale
would produce premium shale oil for
same processes for which it could be
production include the selection of
about $30/bbl. Shell’s in situ conversion
used in underground refining. Several
the appropriate coolant-materials
process, involves heating oil shale slowly
oil companies are looking at nuclear
combinations for the heat transfer loops
over many months under chemically
options for heat at refineries and for oil
with the development of the startup-
reducing conditions and utilizes an ice wall
recovery, he said, but retrofitting would
shutdown procedures,” said Forsberg
to isolate the in situ retort, and is closest to
be a serious constraint at many refineries.
who is a member of the Nuclear Science
commercial deployment (OGJ, July 10, 2006,
Although nuclear reactors have low
and Engineering Department at the
p. 18). It has been tested on a small scale
operating costs, installation is capital-
Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
and is being scaled up to a pre-commercial
intensive, Dr.Forsberg noted.
size.
“About 12 Gw+ of high-temperature While oil currently supplies 39% of US
heat would be required to produce
Shell proposes to use electricity for
energy needs, Forsberg says, 149 US oil
a million barrels of oil per day, with
heating— which accounts for about half the
refineries collectively consume more than
required reactor temperatures near
total extraction cost—and requires 15-25
7% of US energy, this makes nuclear heat
700° C.” Like all other oil recovery
heaters/acre, with the electricity likely
transport practical.
technologies, the applicability of the
to be generated from coal or gas.
technology will depend upon the
Significant water requirements for such
The process offers several advantages:
local geology. Only field testing can
electric power plants could have a negative
The energy requirements would be
determine the capabilities and limits of
environmental impact. Producing 5
reduced by a factor of about 2 from
the technology.
million b/d of oil would require 60,000
systems using electricity, with expensive
MW of electricity. Compared with traditional
electricity replaced by lower-cost thermal
processes, it would take 2-3 years of slow
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Sustainable Abundance
A Technology Prospectus
The Nuclear Waste problem
in the spent fuel to produce more power, greatly reducing the total volume of waste. By consuming the unspent portion of the fuel and burning up the long-lived transuranics, the long-term storage requirement is reduced to a few hundred years
T
instead of tens-of- thousand of years.
he major current problem of nuclear waste is what to do with it. In fact, storage of nuclear waste could eventually
Radioactive waste is not all
become one of the biggest expenses of the nuclear power
waste and some of the variety
industry. In the United States a viable longterm solution
of radioisotopes are quite
for waste storage has yet to be found. This is because the
valuable if they can be timely
time period for storage is so incredibly long, on the order of tens-of-
extracted. Most of the volume
thousands of years.
of LWR waste is Uranium-238 and fuel cladding. Yet, little
There is, as of now, no permanent storage site for spent fuel rods.
of the radioactivity of waste is
Temporary storage is being used during the search for potential
from U-238, which is essentially
permanent sites. When spent fuel rods are removed from a reactor
like natural uranium. Most
Story by
core, they are extremely radiologically and thermally hot and must
of the long-lived radioactive
William Thesling PhD,
be cooled down. Most nuclear power plants have a temporary
material in the waste are the
storage or cooling pool next to the reactor. The spent rods are placed
“transuranics” (elements beyond
in the cooling pool for 3-10 years. Many power plants have had to
Uranium such as Plutonium and
enlarge their pools to make room for more rods. Permanent disposal
Americium). The vast majority of
of the spent fuel is becoming more important as the pools become
the transuranic waste by mass
more and more crowded. After spent fuel rods are sufficiently cool,
is plutonium, which could be
they can be placed into longer-term dry cask storage.
useful as fuel for a reactor.
“Spent fuel rods from an LWR Light Water Reactor are a significant problem for the nuclear industry.”
Dry cask storage can secure the spent fuel for many decades, but is still considered a temporary storage measure. Dry cask storage entails placing the spent fuel into concrete and steel reinforced casks, typically near the reactor site. Lower-level (less radioactive) waste can be safely buried at designated waste sites. Proposals for high-level waste disposal include burying the waste under the ocean floor, storing it underground, and reprocessing. The most promising option is to consume the fissile material remaining
Because of the solid nature of spent fuel
A Technology Prospectus www.Th90.org
and current policies regarding reprocessing, it is not practical to extract the valuable elements or even the plutonium for making new fuel elements. However, this picture can change rather significantly if the fuel is in a liquid form. A liquid-fueled reactor can be made to extract the radioactive fission products. These are the byproducts of nuclear fission and removing them keeps the reactor running clean. Most of these are highly radioactive, but decay away relatively quickly within a few decades.
11
LFtR: The heart of a “complete” solution!
P
roperly designed Molten Salt Reactors (MSRs - of which LFTR is one design) can consume the fissile materials and transurancis remaining in stockpiles of nuclear waste while producing useful energy. The Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor (LFTR) is a particular Molten Salt Reactor
with especially compelling properties. A LFTR can usefully consume nearly all of its thorium-derived fuel. Thorium is so plentiful that we can satisfy all of the world’s present energy demands for thousands of years. LFTR is very fuel-efficient, consuming nearly all
The longer-lived radioisotopes
of its fuel while producing little or no long-lived radioactive waste.
would require about 300 years
Because there is no fuel cladding, unspent fuel or transurancis, the
of storage to drop to background
waste stream of a LFTR is essentially just fission products. Many
Story by
radiation levels that are no
of these fission products can be separated and commercialized
Don Larson
longer a concern. The long-
excluding them from the waste stream. The longest-lived LFTR
lived transuranic elements
byproducts would need only 300 years of storage. There are many
(predominantly plutonium,
buildings in the world that are well over 300 years old. Storing this
but others too) can be kept
significantly reduced volume of “waste” for 300 years is a more
in the liquid fuel core until
reasonable engineering challenge than 30,000-year storage. A small
they eventually fission. This
modular LFTR could be shipped by truck or rail to a legacy nuclear
eliminates these elements from
power plant to leverage existing power plant and transmission
the waste stream and greatly
infrastructure, while the older LWR is being decommissioned.
reduces the long-term storage requirements of the waste.
Much of the United States’ aging fleet of LWRs will need to be decommissioned within the next 20-30 years. A small modular LFTR could be shipped by truck or rail to the legacy nuclear power plant to leverage existing power plant and transmission infrastructure. LFTR’s many advantages means much lower cost electricity which translates into boosting the economy.
“LFTR reactors solve many problems for utility companies with aging reactors and decommisioning costs”
12
2012 A TechnologyMonth Prospectus
iFactor Magazine Sustainable Abundance
cancer needs a cure! The LFTR’s liquid core offers the unique ability to remove select radioactive elements. Some of these radioactive elements (raidoisotopes) are highly sought after for medical diagnostic treatments. Others have shown great promise in cancer treatment. Production of these radioisotopes by a commercial fleet of LFTRs has the potential to improve healthcare while reducing costs.
R
adiation has a long and distinguished
dozen years to figure out how to make alpha-
reputation as a potent weapon against
radiation-armed antibodies that are safe and
cancer . But like all cancer treatments,
effective, and most importantly, that have a long
radiation can cause side effects because it attacks
enough half-life to be able to be transported to
healthy cells, as well as diseased ones.
treatment centers before they lose their cancer-
In 2000, New York physician David Sheinberg
killing power. Now Actinium is approaching
started a company, Actinium Pharmaceuticals,
mid-stage trials of its lead drug candidate, and
around an idea for making radiation a more
its executives are so confident they’re on the right
potent and targeted therapy. He wanted
joined Actinium as CEO
track they’re planning a public offering in the
to attach radioactive isotopes to specific
in 2005. “If you bring
fourth quarter of this year.
antibodies—proteins that are programmed to
them to the cell, they
target cancer cells , thus putting the radiation
will kill just that cell.
says Cicic, is the method Sheinberg developed to
source right on the cancer cells. But rather than
They won’t do anything
attach radioactive isotopes to antibodies. What
using radioisotopes that produce beta radiation
to the surrounding
he came up with was a “chelator,” which is
he chose ones that emit alpha particles instead.
tissue.”
a linker that binds to the antibody on one side
Sounds simple enough,
and the radioactive element on the other. “The
tremendous killing power, but they travel
but it actually took
antibody then brings the killing agent to the cancer
drastically shorter paths,” says Dragan Cicic, who
Actinium nearly a
cell,” Cicic explains. (The company is named
Why alpha radiation? “These particles have
The key to the company’s technology platform,
“Nobody likes to see any one die from cancer, especially a loved one. The Actinium 225 radioisotope is a rare commodity because it is harvested from the feed stock of
A Technology Prospectus www.Th90.org
13
Molybdenum 99 Is a radioisotope used in medical diagnostic testing after Actinium 225, one of the alpha
and nuclear imaging.
emitting isotopes used in the platform.) Actinium’s lead product has been tried in about 60 patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and has not produced significant side effects, Cicic says. Because of the drug’s targeting ability, “the amount We’re looking at a thousand times
America is facing a shortage of Mo99
smaller dose of radiation” than what’s
currently produced in reactors in
of radiation that’s given is miniscule.
typically given with beta-emitting drugs, he says. Actinium plans to initially develop
Canada and the Netherlands.
the drug for AML patients who are over 60 and not strong enough to endure a bone marrow transplant, which is one of the more commonly used treatments for the disease. “Among older patients, survival rates are very low, and only a small percentage are eligible for bone marrow
Better diagnosis
transplants,” says co-founder Sheinberg,
The cheaper Molybdenum.
who is a professor of medicine at
99 enables nuclear
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
imaging that can be used
and at Weill-Cornell University Medical
to make a quick and
College in New York. “There’s a huge need
affordable diagnosis.
for tolerable treatments that prolong survival.” Figuring out how to produce Actinium 225 at commercial quantities has not been easy. For now, though, the company only needs a small research quantity of the isotope for clinical trials, which it is able to get from Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee and Idaho National Laboratories. While production rates are slow, a fleet of Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors (LFTRs) could eventually produce a
Reduces healthcare costs A quick and affordable diagnosis made initially by medical professionals can radically reduce healthcare costs and reduce treatment times
medically significant amount of Actinium 255 radioisotope that could be used to treat cancer and prolong or save millions of lives.
Helps makes medicine better More affordable isotopes made more abundant by a LFTR reactor reduces costs
a reactor that is no longer in existence. There are no known ways to produce Actinium 255 in an affordable manner.”
and improves care
14
iFactor Sustainable Magazine Abundance
A Technology Month Prospectus 2012
A Brief History of the LFTR D
uring the late 1940s, excitement and
as a solvent fluid, but hydroxides had limited
enthusiasm about all things “atomic” was
stability at high-temperatures and were extremely
common among military planners. Having
corrosive to most metal structures.
“harnessed” the energy of the atom for nuclear
Story by
Kirk Sorensen
at Oak Ridge National Laboratory on nuclear
this energy could be used to drive other military
aircraft propulsion. At that time, a beryllium-oxide
activities. About this time a young Navy captain,
moderated, sodium-cooled reactor with solid
Hyman Rickover, was beginning to think about
fuel elements was favored, but temperatures that
the possibilities of nuclear energy for powering
would be attained in the reactor (1600°F) made it
submarines, and the Air Force, not to be left
difficult to conceive that the fuel elements would
behind, was imagining long-range bombers that
survive long. Briant believed that such a reactor
could fly indefinitely, powered by nuclear energy.
would have fuel elements that would look like “a
The design constraints and difficulties
bunch of spaghetti”.
of building a nuclear powered aircraft were
He tried to conceive of a reactor that could
significantly different than building a nuclear
operate stably at such temperatures and naturally
submarine. Central among them was the need to
began to think about a fluid fuel form. Briant’s
build a reactor that could reliably provide heat at
colleagues, Vince Calkins and Ed Bettis, proposed
the much higher-temperatures needed to drive a
to use fluorides of the alkali- and alkaline-earth
turbojet. In a conventional turbojet engine, cold
metals as solvents, but the behavior of uranium
ambient air is drawn in the intake, compressed to
fluoride in these salts was unknown. At first blush,
high pressures in the compressor, and then heated
however, the fluoride salts had many advantages.
to high temperature in the burner by mixing and
They were extremely chemically stable and thus
combusting a small amount of jet fuel. The hot
could attain very high temperature operation. But
gas then expands through a turbine, generating
could they be successfully used in a reactor?
the shaft power to drive the compressor, and is exhausted through the nozzle, creating thrust. To build a nuclear-powered aircraft, the heat
“Nuclear powered flight was the genesis for the LFTR Reactor”
In 1951, Ray Briant was working as a chemist
weapons, naturally they began to imagine how
The possibility of a high-temperature, high power density reactor was very tempting, and so an effort to prove the concept of the liquid-
generated by combustion had to be replaced
fluoride reactor began. A small research reactor
with heat generated by a nuclear reactor. But
that was being designed for the Aircraft Nuclear
the typical water-cooled reactors that were
Program was modified to serve as a testbed
favored for submarine proplusion could not
for the liquid-fluoride concept. Since blocks of
provide nearly high enough temperatures for
beryllium oxide had already been ordered for
aircraft propulsion. Beyond the high-temperature
the previously-favored concept, the decision
requirements, the reactor needed to be extremely
was made to use them and flow the fluoride salt
simple, easy to operate, reliable, and lightweight.
through Inconel tubes in and out of the beryllium
Different fluid-fuels had been considered, most
oxide block to simulate reactor performance. Thus
of them based on uranium compounds that could
the Aircraft Reactor Experiment (ARE) was born.
be dissolved in water, such as uranyl sulphate.
The ARE went critical for the first time on
But water-based reactors couldn’t reach the
November 3, 1954 using a mixture of sodium
temperatures needed for aircraft propulsion, even
fluoride, zirconium fluoride, and uranium
under extreme pressure. A fluid was needed that
tetrafluoride. It operated for a total of about 100
was stable at high temperatures, and stability at
hours at a maximum temperature of 1600°F and
high temperatures necessarily implied chemical
a maximum power of 2.5 MW (thermal). Heat
stability. Thought was given to using hydroxides
generated in the fluoride salt was removed by a
Month A Technology 2012 Prospectus
iFactor www.Th90.com Magazine
15
Seeking to create a small and lightweight reactor for flight, Oak Ridge National Laboratory developed the first liquid fueled reactor. liquid sodium coolant loop and then dumped in
operated successfully and safely for 4.5 years
an air-cooled heat exchanger. The ARE showed
until it was shut down in December 1969. The
that not only was the UF4 chemically stable in
MSRE was the first reactor to operate on each of
the solvent, but also that the fission products
the three fissile fuels: U-233, U-235, and Pu-239.
generated by fission formed stable fluorides
During its operation, uranium was removed from
in the salt mixture and did not plate out on
the salt through fluorination by bubbling gaseous
surfaces. Another surprise was that gaseous
fluorine through the salt. The fluorine caused
fission products readily came out of the fuel. The
the uranium tetrafluoride to convert to uranium
fluid fuel had a very strong negative temperature
hexafluoride, which is gaseous, and could then
coefficient, and the reactor could easily be started
be removed. In 4 days, 218 kg of uranium was
and stopped by changing the power demand on
separated from the intensely radioactive fission
the reactor, without control rods.
products and its activity was reduced by over
Despite the technical triumph of the first
a billionfold! The reactor was then loaded with
liquid-fluoride reactor, the Aircraft Nuclear
U-233 that had been made by early runs of
Program faced severe technical difficulties from
thorium fuel at the Indian Point reactor in New
the weight of radiation shielding (necessary to
York. When restarted, the MSRE was operating on
protect the pilot and crew) and the advent of
U-233 and the Pu-239 that remained from the
alternative forms of nuclear weapons delivery,
previous operation on 20% enriched uranium.
such as the intercontinental ballistic missile and
“The foundational technology of a LFTR was largely proven at ORNL throughout the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s”
Again, despite the tremendous success of the
in-air refueling. After Kennedy took office in
MSRE, the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) was
1960, the Aircraft Nuclear Program was quietly
committed single-mindedly to the sodium-cooled
discontinued.
fast breeder and withdrew support for even the
ORNL interest in the liquid-fluoride reactor
most promising alternatives.
(LFR) did not wane, however. The hightemperature performance of the reactor coupled with its neutron economy and operational stability led ORNL engineers to propose the LFR as a civilian power reactor. At first, the LFR was considered for usw as a converter reactor, but further investigation of the properties of uranium-233 led engineers to propose the use of the LFR as a thermal breeder reactor. Design and construction of the Molten-Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE) began in 1961. It was a “true” liquid-fluoride reactor. It utilized a lithium7-beryllium fluoride solvent into which was dissolved zirconium and uranium tetrafluorides. The goal of thorium breeding was deferred since the favored design at the time was
“A very small and dense power source, that is affordable offers a lot of potential”
LFTR
Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor
a two-region liquid-fluoride breeder. The MSRE was designed to simulate the “core” of that future
The primary goal of the EFTF is to enable the development,
reactor.
licensing, manufacture, and operation of a LFTR design that
The MSRE attained criticality on June 1, 1965 and
can operate on cheap and abundant Thorium. We envision a LFTR design that is small and modular and can be built on an assembly line and delivered to a prepared site.
16
A Technology Prospectus
Sustainable Abundance
15
windowsof opportunity I
n retrospect, many of the
production. Such high
repository. The generation
to the outside environment
reasons that theMolten
temperatures were almost
of transuranic nuclides from
through a combined breach of
Salt Reactor (MSR) was
considered a nuisance when
the thorium-uranium cycle is
containment and vessel, the
originally terminated
the MSR was coupled to a
essentially zero.
salt would freeze with fission
would be selling points for a
steam system in the old ORNL
reactor in today’s world.
designs.
1. Inherent safety. The
3. Fuel cycle. The neutron
4. Operability and
products in the salt as stable
reliability. The LFTR can
fluorides. Gaseous fission
be refueled continuously
products are removed from
strong negative temperature
economy of the MSR allows
and easily while online,
the salt in normal operation
coefficient of the fluid fuel,
it to breed thorium to
which would improve the
and would not comprise
its response to transients,
uranium and essentially run
competitiveness of utilities
much of the fission product
the stability of fission
forever. Thorium is plentiful
by eliminating refueling
inventory. In the event of
products in the salt, and
and the resources available
shutdowns. The composition
complete power loss and no
the ability to drain the core
would fuel planetary energy
of the salt is continuously
backup power or cooling, the
into a passively-cooled
production for thousands
homogenized by pumping the
reactor would melt a plug of
configuration have led many
of years. The DOE recently
salt through the core. There
frozen salt in the bottom of
to conclude that the liquid-
disposed of a stockpile
are no “hot channels” or “local
the reactor and drain into a
fluoride reactor is probably
of 3216 metric tonnes
burnup” in a liquid-fluoride
passively-cooled, noncritical
the safest reactor ever
of thorium nitrate that if
core due to this action, and
configuration. Thus reactor
designed. Typical passively-
consumed in a liquid-fluoride
no need for fuel reshuffling.
operators could conceivably
safe nuclear reactor designs
reactors would provide all
Fuel can be removed easily
turn off all power and walk
usually involve drastic
US energy (electricity and
by draining the core. The
away from a full-power
performance reductions to
transportation) needs for
strong negative temperature
reactor and it would passively
the reactor.
five years. Fission products
coefficient allows the reactor
automatically and safely shut
2. High performance.
can be isolated from the salt
to “follow the load” without
itself without incident.
The LFR can operate at the
and disposed in a geological
operator intervention, and
high-temperatures and
repository, where their
to reduce power generation
the element thorium
extremely rapidly in response
throughout the Earth’s crust
to “loss of load” accidents.
promises widespread energy
Developing LFTR in America offers a number of Aerospace Technology manufacturing and research and development opportunities
5. Response to accidents
6.The abundance of
independence through Liquid
or sabotage. A properly
Fluoride Thorium Reactor
designed LFTR can withstand
(LFTR) technology. A mere
accidents of tremendous
6,600 tonnes of thorium
low pressures needed for
activity would drop below
magnitude such as a breach
could provide the energy
high-efficiency electrical
background levels in ~300
of vessel and containment,
equivalent of the combined
production from gas turbines
years. Actinides would be
whether intentional or
global annual consumption
or high-temperature
retained in the core and not
accidental. If the fuel salt
of 5 billion tonnes of coal,
thermochemical hydrogen
end up in the geological
were inadvertently exposed
31 billion barrels of oil,
A Technology Prospectus www.Th90.org
17
“The technology of the LFTR (Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor) has a well-documented development record at ORNL (Oak Ridge National Laboratories) in the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment, with an investment of over $1 Billion taxpayer dollars. Much of the technology development has already been completed!” 3 trillion cubic meters of
pressure containment vessels
11. A LFTR produces
natural gas, and 65,000
and alleviate safety concerns
safe, sustainable, carbon-
and shorter build times.
tonnes of uranium. With
about high-pressure releases
free electricity and a range
Modular installation near the
LFTR, a pound of thorium
to the atmosphere. LFTR offers
of radioisotopes useful
point of need also eliminates
can supply an individual’s
significant gains in safety, cost
for medical imaging,
long transmission lines.
lifetime energy needs; a
and efficiency with greatly
cancer therapy, industrial
Higher temperatures and
grain silo full could power
reduced environmental
applications and space
turbine efficiencies enable
North America for a year;
impact relative to existing
exploration. LFTR waste heat
air-cooling away from water
and known thorium reserves
light-water reactors (LWRs).
can be used to desalinate
bodies.
could power advanced
9. A LFTR is more efficient,
sea water and high primary
offers reduced capital costs
14. LFTR and thorium
society for many thousands
using 99% of the thorium-
heat can drive ammonia
are proliferation resistant.
of years. After known high-
derived fuel. A LFTR can
production for agriculture
Thorium and its derivative
grade ore deposits were
extract significantly more
and the synthesis of liquid
fuel, uranium-233, are
consumed, Thorium could
energy from abundant,
hydrocarbon fuels (e.g.
impractical and undesirable
be economically extracted
inexpensive thorium than
gasoline).
for weaponization efforts
from common soils, powering society for many millions of years. 7. LFTR is based on sound MSR operational fundamentals proven by
relative to well-known
Because LFTR addresses so many different markets there is a huge potential to influence many industries 12. Most LFTR byproducts
uranium enrichment and plutonium breeding pathways. Thus, despite 60 years of thorium research, none of the world’s tens-of-thousands of
20,000 hours of reactor
other reactors can from
operation at Oak Ridge
more scarce and costly
stabilize within a decade
warheads are based on the
National Laboratory in the
uranium. LWRs burn scarce
and have commercial value;
late 1960’s. Despite
fissile reserves as a one-time
the minor remainder has a
cannot fail or meltdown.
thorium fuel-cycle. 15. Liquid salt fuels
recognized, compelling
consumable; LFTR consumes
half-life of less than 30 years,
The liquid salt fuels have a
advantages, LFTR
fertile thorium, using fissile
stabilizing within hundreds
thousand-degree liquid range,
development stalled when
reserves only to start the
rather than tens of thousands
eliminating the possibility of
political and financial capital
thorium fuel-cycle.
of years. LFTR waste is
fuel failure scenarios from
primarily fission products and
overheating or meltdown like
were concentrated instead
10. A LFTR can use a range
on fast-spectrum plutonium
of nuclear starter fuels and
does not include unspent
at Fukushima. The liquid fuel
breeding reactors.
can consume plutonium and
fuel, fuel cladding, or long-
form is a key differentiator
other actinides from legacy
lived transuranics typical of
from conventional solid-
pressure, is chemically and
spent nuclear fuel stockpiles.
legacy spent nuclear fuel.
fueled LWRs with LFTR’s
operationally stable and
Molten salt reactors were
passively shuts down without human intervention. Low
8. LFTR operates at low
13. LFTRs can be mass
liquid salts serving as both a
started on all three fuel
produced in a factory and
fuel carrier and coolant. The
options and once operational,
delivered and reclaimed from
salts are not reactive with
pressures eliminate the
LFTR can continue operation
utility sites as modular units.
water or the atmosphere.
need for massive and costly
with just thorium.
Modular LFTR production
18
A Technology Prospectus
Sustainable Abundance
some like
There are a huge number of potential industrial applicatio this reactor produces. Moreover, due to the simplier reacto costs, a LFTR could produce electricity at half the price of o technologies viable that were though
T
his means that many industries
Story by
Don Larson
L
can be made cleaner because the high-temperature processes would
no longer rely on coke and coal for heat generation. Large cities in the Rust-Belt
FTR (Liquid Fluoride Thorium
could potentially be free of mountains of
Reactor) can produce high-
imported coal and coke used to produce
temperature process heat that can
heat. Additionally, the resulting ash from
be used in many energy-intensive
the consumed coal and coke, a major
industrial applications. LFTR can be
source of particulate matter, would
built to supply process heat without
no longer enter the air around such
electrical power generation systems
operations. Improving the looks, the air
(e.g., turbine and generator). Using
quality, and the surrounding environment
process heat directly when possible is
would help cities like Cleveland and
an efficient way to use the energy from
Detroit to make old businesses profitable
a LFTR. Because the LFTR operates at
and attract new businesses to the area.
high temperatures (650 C or 1200 F)
Affordable electricity and low-cost heat
it is possible to use this process heat
is a tremendous driver for industry and
much more often for many industrial
could potentially help spark an industrial
applications.
renaissance for many established manufacturing communities.
A Technology Prospectus www.TH90.org
19
e it hot
ons for LFTR because of the high temperature process heat tor design and lower capital costs, as well as low recurring our current most affordable sources. This will make many ht to not be economically affordable.
S
Some economist estimate that access to lower-cost electricity and process heat could reduce
the costs to build an SUV by about $2,500. This would dramatically increase the competitiveness of American manufacturers. There is great potential to establish a lasting commercial advantage if we develop LFTR here, in America first.
C A
hina already has a Thorium
“Getting transportation fuels from trash and sewage”
reactor program with hundreds of engineers and hundreds of millions
of dollars for development.
Plasma Gasification Plasma gasification pioneered by
merican leadership has yet to
Westinghouse and its NRG subsidiary is
commit to enter the race to
one technology with particular potential
develop LFTR technology. What
to benefit from LFTR development.
will happen to America’s competitiveness
Plasma torches are used to gasify landfill
if China is the first or only successful
trash and sewage and turn these waste
developer of LFTR technology?
products into useful transportation fuels.
20
A Technology Prospectus
Sustainable Abundance
Design simplicity equals Safety
T
he design of a LFTR is so simple, that
atmospheric pressure eliminating the need for
many in the Nuclear Engineering world
a pressure containment vessel and alleviating
refer to it as an elegant design. In
concerns about dispersal of radioactive materials.
laymen’s vernacular, LFTR is a state of the art iPhone in a universe of solid fueled
reactors akin to an 1980’s car phone. Today’s LWRs (Light Water Reactors) achieve
Story by
Donald Larson
Stability: The reactor performance is inherently stable and stability actually increases as powerlevels are increased. As reactivity increases and generates more heat, e.g., due to increase power
safety through defense in depth - multiple,
demand, heating of the fuel salt leads to reduced
independent, redundant systems engineered to
density of fuel salt available for fission in the
control faults.
core. This in turn decreases reactivity, which then increases fuel density, perpetuating self-regulating,
LFTR’s inherent safety keeps such safety costs very low.
stable power levels. Disconnect: If an electrical transmission line
Pressure: LWRs have large, thick, costly reactor
disconnects, so the electric generator and turbine
vessels pressurized to 160 atmospheres or more.
system do not remove as much heat from
Large containment domes serve to contain any
the fuel salt, the fuel salt expands, reducing
release of radioactive materials and steam in
reactivity and stabilizing at the new power demand
the event of an accident. A LFTR operates at
level.
A Technology Prospectus
www.Th90.org
21
It is important to remember that a LFTR runs at atmospheric pressure and that exponentially reduces any potential danger to the public. Backup safety: ORNL (Oak Ridge National Laboratory) invented a simple salt freeze plug (essentially, salt frozen in a section of pipe by an external Cooler). Should a LFTR ever lose power or the fuel salt temperature rise above a desired level, the salt plug melts and the fuel salt naturally flows out of the reactor into drain tanks where the decay heat from fission products in the fuel salt can be passively cooled.
The liquid fuel salt within a LFTR has nearly a 1000 degree liquid range at atmospheric pressure, boiling only above 1400°C (2500°F). Unlike a conventional LWR, there is no pressurized coolant that would vaporize in the event of a loss of pressure accident. Guarding against loss of pressure and release of fission products is what necessitates the large containment building and backup water cooling systems in LWRs. These large, costly systems would simply be unnecessary with a LFTR.
Melt down: The liquid fluoride salts are already in a melted state during operation and have a 1000 degree liquid range, so there is no possibility of a fuel meltdown. The salts are solid at room temperature and would solidify in the event of a breach of the reactor vessel, pump, or piping.
“A Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor cannot meltdown because its core is already molten”