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Molten salt nuclear reactor that eats radioactive waste gets funded
By Ryan Whitwam
August 15, 2014
<snip>
Reactors like the one proposed by Transatomic use salt mixed with the nuclear fuel to slow the reaction. When the temperature goes up, the salt expands and reduces the rate of fission. Since salts melting point is higher than the core temperature, even if power is lost and no one is around to fix things, the reaction will eventually stop on its own. This technology has been proposed before, but Transatomic says it can do it better with improved internal reactor geometry (PDF). This is what could allow it to fuel a reactor with nuclear waste or mined uranium at enrichment levels as low as 1.8 percent.
<snip>
.
Molten salt nuclear reactor that eats radioactive waste gets funded
By Ryan Whitwam
August 15, 2014
<snip>
Reactors like the one proposed by Transatomic use salt mixed with the nuclear fuel to slow the reaction. When the temperature goes up, the salt expands and reduces the rate of fission. Since salts melting point is higher than the core temperature, even if power is lost and no one is around to fix things, the reaction will eventually stop on its own. This technology has been proposed before, but Transatomic says it can do it better with improved internal reactor geometry (PDF). This is what could allow it to fuel a reactor with nuclear waste or mined uranium at enrichment levels as low as 1.8 percent.
<snip>
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