atw - International Journal for Nuclear Power | 04.2022

atw Vol. 67 (2022) | Ausgabe 4 ı Juli
34
AT A GLANCE
Copenhagen Atomics a Thorium
Molten Salt Reactor with a Breeder
Concept
Many new developments in the nuclear industry
are happening, Established in 2001, the Generation
IV International Forum (GIF) was created as a cooperative
international endeavour seeking to
develop the research necessary to test the
feasibility and performance of fourth generation
nuclear systems, and to make them available for
industrial deployment by 2030.
Gen IV international forum (GIF)
The GIF brings together 13 countries (Argentina,
Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Japan,
Korea, Russia, South Africa, Switzerland, the
United Kingdom and the United States), as well as
Euratom – representing the 27 European Union
members − to co-ordinate research and
development on these systems. The GIF has
selected six reactor technologies for further
research and development: the gas-cooled fast
reactor (GFR), the lead-cooled fast reactor (LFR),
the molten salt reactor (MSR), the sodium-cooled
fast reactor (SFR), the supercritical-water-cooled
reactor (SCWR) and the very high-temperature
reactor (VHTR).
However Copenhagen Atomics (CA) now takes
thermal breeder reactors far beyond the Gen IV
concepts with their most interesting development
in molten salt being a thermal breeder based on
Thorium. Thorium is the only element that allows
for a breeder reactor in a thermal spectrum. This
means that it can generate its own fissile fuel from
thorium and thus require hundred times less
mining than any other reactor. Thorium is reacted
with fluorine to create tetrafluoride ThF4 which is
then mixed with commercially available isotopically
enriched lithium 7 fluoride 7LiF to form the basis
salt F7LiTh used in the reactor.
A Kickstarter fuel F7LiThPu is used to start the
fission process. Unpressurized heavy water serves
a moderator. By kickstarting the reactor on longlived
nuclear waste , left in spent nuclear fuel, the
waste is converted to fission products, which only
needs to be stored for 300 years while rapidly
scaling global energy production without the
need for uranium enrichment. Copenhagen
Atomics is working on developing the thorium
based MSR in a 40 foot shipping container (“Waste
Burner”) capable of delivering 100 MWth expected
to bring total LCoE below $20/MWh in a mass
manufacturing scenario.
Normally industry scales up the size of power
plants in order to reduce costs, but this also
increases the financial risk significantly. Financial
risk is what drives the cost of nuclear. The molten
salt reactor is small and modular, allowing it to be
produced at a fraction of the costs of traditional
nuclear. Any desired output is then achieved by
placing multiple reactors on site.
Removing the complexity for
decision makers.
Companies fear the responsibility of operating a
nuclear plant, decommissioning, and handling
nuclear waste. CA takes care of all of that and just
delivers reliable and green energy to the customer.
Copenhagen Atomics started in 2015 and now the
company has about 50 employees developing and
building the reactor. CA has a test facility for
thorium and uranium salts, sells products which
define the molten salt industry and tests more
than anyone else in this new industry.
CA is on track with the planned timeline and has
started the construction of the test reactor in
Copenhagen. It will be ready before Christmas
At a Glance
Copenhagen Atomics a Thorium Molten Salt Reactor with a Breeder Concept