Technology prospectus version 5

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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

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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.


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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


10

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”


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