atw - International Journal for Nuclear Power | 04.2022

atw Vol. 67 (2022) | Ausgabe 4 ı Juli
reliable and green power charging next-generation
batteries. With only one TMSR unit, TMSRs can
provide power to up to four cruise vessels
simultaneously.
The FUJI reactor has an internal reactor vessel with
a second containment vessel built around. Outside
the second containment vessel, we find a concrete
wall for the final protection. The final protection
wall can also consist of lead. The reactor vessel is
5.4 m diameter and 4.0 m high and filled mostly by
graphite (93.9 vol. %) and fuel-salt only as shown
in Figure 2. Note that below the reactor we find a
drain/emergency tank, which will only be used in
the unlikely event of an emergency.
The miniFUJI is suitable for THOR with a reactor of
only 1.8 meters in diameter and 2.1 meters high,
weighing approximately 1650 tonnes including
primary salt loop and heat exchanger. Yet, the
miniFUJI has an output of 7 MWe (Furukawa et al.,
2005). We see that the miniFUJI has a lower effect/
mass ratio than the FUJI, because the shielding is
the same for both reactors. Steam turbine is
envisaged providing 43 % thermal efficiency (Moir
& Teller, 2005).
Marine applications of TMSR must be based on
modular and standardized design because with
high capital costs, effective project execution to
minimize the Overnight Construction Cost (OCC)
is key (Lovering et al., 2016; World Nuclear
Association, 2019). Standardization also reduces
complexity and hence makes training possible for
others than nuclear scientists and nuclear
engineers, which is key for truly industrial scale.
Since the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) for the
TMSR is still in the early demonstration stage,
further research is required both concerning the
technology itself (primarily materials and salt
chemistry) and documenting its economic
performance. As the late industrialist, and
America’s Greenest CEO 4 , Ray Anderson
emphasized (Anderson, 1998); we must seek
solutions where we ‘can do well by doing good’. The
TMSR is one such technology.
References
Anderson, R. C. (1998). Mid-Course Correction. The Peregrinzilla Press.
Argyros, D., Raucci, C., Sabio, N., & Smith, T. (2014). Global Marine Fuel Trends 2030.
Emblemsvåg, J. (2021). How Thorium-based Molten Salt Reactor can provide clean, safe and
cost-effective technology for deep-sea shipping. Marine Technology Socieity Journal, 55(1), 56-72.
Furukawa, K., Arakawa, K., Erbay, L. B., Ito, Y., Kato, Y., Kiyavitskaya, H., Lecocq, A., Mitachi, K., Moir,
R., Numata, H., Pleasant, J. P., Sato, Y., Shimazu, Y., Simonenco, V. A., Sood, D. D., Urban, C., & Yoshioka,
R. (2008). A road map for the realization of global-scale thorium breeding fuel cycle by single
molten-fluoride flow. Energy Conversion and Management, 49, 1832-1848.
Furukawa, K., Numata, H., Kato, Y., Mitachi, K., Yoshioka, R., Furuhashi, A., Sato, Y., & Arakawa, K.
(2005). New Primary Energy Source by Thorium Molten-Salt Reactor Technology. Electrochemistry,
73(8), 553-563.
Kamei, T. (2011). Implementation Strategy of Thorium Nuclear Power in the Context of Global
Warming. In P. Tsvetkov (Ed.), Nuclear Power: Deployment, Operation and Sustainability (pp.
365-382). InTech.
Lovering, J. R., Yip, A., & Nordhaus, T. (2016). Historical construction costs of global nuclear power
reactors. Energy Policy, 91(April), 371–382.
MacPherson, H. G. (1985). Molten salt reactor adventure. Nuclear Science and Engineering, 90,
374-380.
Moir, R. W. (2002). The cost of electricity from Molten Salt Reactors (MSR). Nuclear Technology,
138(1), 93-95.
Moir, R. W., & Teller, E. (2005). Thorium-Fueled Underground Power Plant based on Molten Salt
Technology. Nuclear Technology, 151(September), 334-340.
Olmer, N., Comer, B., Roy, B., Mao, X., & Rutherford, D. (2017). Greenhouse Gas Emissions from
Global Shipping, 2013–2015.
Weinberg, A. M. (1997). The proto-history of the molten salt system. Journal of acceleration plasma
research, 2, 22-26.
World Nuclear Association. (2019). Economics of Nuclear Power.
Author
Jan Emblemsvåg
Professor
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
RESEARCH AND INNOVATION 33
jan.emblemsvag@ntnu.no
Jan Emblemsvåg has served in various senior management positions in the
industry including SVP of Ship Design & Systems at Rolls-Royce Marine and
General Manager at Midsund Bruk designing and manufacturing advanced
pressure vessels. Today, he is Professor at Norwegian University of Science and
Technology (NTNU), board member, consultant, author and speaker. His areas of
expertise include project-, risk- and operations management, product- and
process development, sustainability and renewable energy including nuclear
energy. His non-academic work largely covers the same areas. He typically takes a
techno-economic-environmental approach to find both industrial- and practical
solutions to challenges at hand. He has written several books internationally
available and dozens of internationally published journal papers. He holds a PhD
(1999) and M.Sc. at Georgia Institute of Technology (1995) and a M.Sc. at NTNU
(1994).
| Fig. 2
The FUJI concept blueprint [main piping: 8 cm in diameter] (Furukawa et al.,
2005)..
4 Named by Fortune Magazine as America’s Greenest CEO.
Research and Innovation
The Marine Thorium-based Molten Salt Reactor ı Jan Emblemsvåg