MSR Review

MSR Review
Prototype Reactor Uses
Throughout the lifetime of this initial prototype there are various uses foreseen:
• As a demonstrator, new Molten Salt Reactor technologies would be proven. This brings
investor and public confidence in liquid fuelled reactor implementation. Reactor design
would allow it to transition to other operating formats - in the thermal spectrum ▲ , as a
thorium breeder or as a Low Enriched Uranium burner.
• As a test reactor, its function would include testing its own reactor components and
mechanisms under real conditions.
• As a research facility, it would constitute a suitable neutron source for academic
researchers to irradiate materials.
This prototype reactor could be used for research and development for as long as required
over a range of operating conditions. However, after a relatively short period of operation as a
demonstration reactor, it would be the basis for the next step, a second reactor for industrial
application. Any prototype would be used as a training facility for operators of future, larger
facilities.
The business outlook after the second reactor is operational is that investor payoff in terms of
possible cash-flow commences. In the longer term more significant benefit is a real opportunity
to establish what would become one of the industry-standard nuclear fission technologies.
Climate change and related global aspirations
There is a robust business case for committed UK involvement in the best proposed civilian
nuclear fission technology, namely the Molten Salt Reactor. In addition, an underlying driver
for effective and urgent action is a clear link to concern about climate change. To address the
climate change issue sustainable and affordable carbon-free devices for harnessing energy are
required for the UK.
When considering all nations in the world, personal poverty, energy poverty, world population
growth and greenhouse gas concentrations are all apparently linked. Consider three sets of
facts:
• Taking gross domestic product per capita of US$7500/y as the boundary between
poverty and prosperity, a clear majority of nations in prosperity use on average, more
than 2000 kWH/y per person (CIA Factbook)
• Nations in prosperity have fertility rates just below a stable population rate of 2.3 children
per woman (CIA Factbook)
• Greenhouse gas concentration and world population have grown in parallel, close to
exponentially, over the last 2000 years (International Panel on Climate Change and
Wikipedia)
This evidence leads to a strong conjecture that a necessary condition for addressing greenhouse
gas concentration reduction is world-wide access to affordable, sustainable energy. For this
objective the very best technology must be implemented to provide energy for civilian use. It
is often proposed that conservation of energy – changing light bulbs etc – would resolve the
issue. However, if practised in just the wealthy fifth of the world, these measures – although they
▲ see Glossary
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