Mar 16, 2013, 3:16 PM

Home / Alternative Energy / Nuclear Power

MIT Develops Meltdown-Proof,

Nuclear Waste-Eating Reactor
Transatomic,aMassachusettsInstituteofTechnologyspinoffisdevelopinganuclearreactor
designedtoovercomethemajorbarrierstonuclearpower.Fortheantinuclearfolksthedesign
offerstoburnuptheexistingspentfuelfromtheworldsfleetofnuclearreactorsinadesignthat
doesntofferachanceforameltdown.Thatshouldbenirvanaforthosealarmedaboutatomic
energyandweaponsproliferation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=AAFWeIp8JT0
Foreveryoneelse,thefirstofferingiswewouldseeareductioninspentfuelcontainmentcostsand
getelectricalenergy,lotsofit,instead.Thesecondisthedesignwouldbefactoryproducedcutting
buildcostsinahugewayandthereactorswouldbelargerthanthecurrentlytrendySmallModular
NuclearReactors(SMNRs)offeringthechancetoinstallatexistinglocationssavingonthe
generationandgridconnectioncosts.
Transatomic,foundedbyapairofverysmartandinnovativeyoungnuclearengineers,hasupdated
themoltensaltreactor,areactortypethatshighlyresistanttomeltdowns.Moltensaltreactorswere
demonstratedinthe1960satOakRidgeNationalLab,whereonetestreactorranforsixyears.
Whatremainsisraising$5milliontorunfiveexperimentstohelpvalidatethenewbasicdesign.
RussWilcox,TransatomicsnewCEOestimatesthatitwilltakeeightyearstobuildaprototype
reactoratacostof$200million.Thecompanyhasalreadyraised$1millioninseedfunding,
includingsomefromRayRothrock,apartnerattheventurecapitalfirmVenrock.
Thecofounders,MarkMassieandLeslieDewan,whowemethereinAprillastyear,arestillPhD
candidatesatMIT.Yetthedesignhasattractedsometopadvisors,includingRegisMatzie,the

formerCTOofthemajornuclearpowerplantsupplierWestinghouseElectric,andRichardLester,the
headofthenuclearengineeringdepartmentatMIT.

MsDewanMr.MassieandMr.LesterofTransatomicPower.

ThenewreactordesigncalledtheWasteAnnihilatingMoltenSaltReactor(WAMSR)sofarexists
onlyonpaper.RayRothrocksaysthecompanywillfacemanychallenges.Thetechnologydoesnt
bothermeintheleast,hesaid.Ihaveconfidenceinthepeople.Iwishsomeonewouldbuildthis
thing,becauseIthinkitwouldwork.Itsalltheotherfactorsthatmakeitdaunting.Wellgettothose
dauntingfactorsinamoment.
Backgroundtodaysconventionalnuclearpowerplantiscooledbywater,whichboilsat100Ca
temperaturefarbelowthe2,000Catthecoreofafuelpellet.Evenafterthereactorisshutdown,it
mustbecontinuouslycooledbypumpinginwateruntilthewholeinternalcoreapparatusisbelow
100C.Theinabilitytodothatproperlyiswhathascausedtheproblemsattroubledplants.Oddly,
thenuclearindustryandregulatoryagencieshaventcometorealizethenotionofmixingwaterand
nuclearfuelisthedangerousmatter.
Thebigproblemscanbesolvedbyusingmoltensalt,insteadofwaterasthecoolant,whichismixed
inwiththefuel.Moltensalthasaboilingpointhigherthantheoperatingtemperatureofthefuel.That
waythereactorhasabuiltinthermostatifitstartstoheatup,thesaltexpands,spreadingoutthe
fuelandslowingthereactionscoolingthethingoff.
Intheeventofapoweroutagewherecoolingcirculationwouldstopcarryingawaytheheat,aplugat
thebottomofthereactormeltsandthefuelandsaltmixtureflowsbygravityintoaholdingtank,
wherethefuelspreadsoutenoughforthereactionstostop.Thesaltthencoolsandsolidifies,
encapsulatingtheradioactivematerials.
MsDewannowthecompanyschiefscienceofficersays,Itswalkawaysafe,ifyouloseelectricity,
eveniftherearenooperatorsonsitetopulllevers,itwillcoasttoastop.
Sheneedsonly$5milliontoproveit.

TechnologyTransatomicsdesignimprovesontheoriginalmoltensaltreactorbychangingthe
internalgeometryandusingdifferentmaterials.Transatomiciskeepingmanyoftheproprietary
designdetailstoitself,butonechangeinvolveseliminatingthegraphitethatmadeup90%ofthe
volumeoftheOakRidgereactor.Thecompanyhasalsomodifiedconditionsinthereactorto
producefasterneutrons,whichmakesitpossibletoburnmostofthematerialthatisordinarily
discardedaswaste.

WAMSRReactorSchematicGraphicDiagram.

Thedesignoffersacoupleotherrealstrongincentives.Becauseitrunsatatmosphericpressure
ratherthanthehighpressuresrequiredinconventionalreactorstheamountofsteelandconcrete
neededtoguardagainstaccidentsisgreatlyreduced.Thetechnicalapproachwillworkforuranium
orforthefuturethoriumfuelsaswell.
Relatedarticle:WillJapanEmbraceGeothermalPowertoMoveAwayfromNuclear?

Hereisthecomparisonthatshouldlightuptheheartsoftheantinuclearcrowd.Aconventional
1,000megawattreactorproducesabout20metrictons(44,000lbs.)ofhighlevelwasteayear,and
thatmaterialneedstobesafelystoredfor100,000years.The500megawattTransatomicreactor
willproduceonlyfourkilograms(8.8lbs.)ofsuchwasteayear,alongwith250kilograms(550lbs.)of
wastethathastobestoredforafewhundredyears.
Inthepresentationtheduoprojectssomewarmingnumbersforboththelowcostpowerandtheanti
nuclearfolks.Conventionalnuclearreactorscanutilizeonlyabout3%ofthepotentialfissionenergy
inagivenamountofuraniumbeforeithastoberemovedfromthereactor.TheTransatomicdesign
captures98%ofthisremainingenergy.AfullydeployedTransatomicreactorfleetcoulduseexisting
stockpilesofnuclearwastetosatisfytheworldselectricityneedsfor70years,nowthrough2083

whenabout99.2%oftodaysdangerousspentfuelwouldbeburnedaway.
EventhoughthebasicideaofamoltensaltreactorhasbeendemonstratedtheNuclearRegulatory
Commissions(NRC)certificationprocessissetuparoundlightwaterreactors.NRCspokesman
ScottBurnellsaidforthenextfewyears,theNRCwillbefocusedoncertifyingthemoreconventional
designsforSMNRs.ButhealsosaidthatthecommissionisawareofTransatomicsconceptbutthat
designshaventbeensubmittedforreviewyet.ThecertificationprocessforTransatomicwilltakeat
leastfiveyearsoncethecompanysubmitsadetaileddesign,withadditionalreviewneeded
specificallyforissuesrelatedtofuelandwastemanagement.
Thedetaileddesignisyearsand$4millionmoredollarsaway.Wilcoxestimatedthatitwilltakeeight
yearstobuildaprototypereactoratacostof$200million.Lowcostpowercustomersandthe
antinuclearfolksmightwanttocoordinategettingtheCongresstorewritetheNRCsproceduresto
speedthingsup.
Afterall,Chinaisreportedtobeinvesting$350millionoverfiveyearstodevelopmoltensaltreactors
ofitsown.Itplanstobuildatwomegawatttestreactorby2020.
Itdbeapitytomissoutonatrilliondollarindustrialmarketandtrillionsmoreinelectricitysavings.
Plusgetridofallthatweaponsready,costlytostoreusedfuel.
AhattipgoestoBrianWandforspottingthelatestupdatetoTranatomicsprogress.
By.BrianWestenhaus
Originalsource:TheNukeTheAntiNukeCrowdShouldLove

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Susanne E. Vandenbosch on March 18 2013 said:

This is a question - not a criticism. Will the fast neutrons activate isotopes in the container material,
making it very radioactive and difcult to dispose of.

SA Kiteman on March 23 2013 said:

One can get the same basic effect with Flibe Energy's Spent Fuel Digester and the Liquid Fluoride
Thorium Recycler (LFTR). The MIT work is nothing new.

Mel Tisdale on March 29 2013 said:

Anything that wakes up the powers that be to press ahead with nuclear power generation gets my vote.

We have listened to the Greens for far too long. They look forward to a life that uses draft animals to
enable farmers to provide food for us. A green dream, which is better described as a black nightmare
(but with roses aplenty!)
Give us loads of electrical power and it is a pound to a penny that humankind will soon nd a way of
sensibly using it to power all vehicles, including multi-wheelers, not just trendy cars and bikes. According
to some we have not got too long to make the conversion before fossil fuels, particularly oil, will be too
expensive and not available at the rate we need them. It is difcult to see how society can avoid some
form of collapse when that time comes.
So let's have a massive Manhattan type project to get LFTR and/or other molten salt reactors
operational, be they the ones discussed here or small modular ones. If they can guarantee that they will
not provide terrorists with nukes, are as safe as claimed and have minimal waste, what's not to like?
(And they offer a lot better existence than our having to spend all our time looking up where the sun
don't shine as our horse pulls our plough.)

Curry B Taylor on March 31 2013 said:

As much as I love MIT, and academics in general, I cannot condone use of taxpayer funds to support yet
another possible failure in a startup energy company. We need Manhattan-scale projects desperately,
but they have to come from industry, private institutions, and individual donations, not from government
mandate. Crowdfunding and high-risk investing on big ideas, rather than coercive taxation, is the wave of
the future. Voluntary individual and private enterprise funded many large projects before governments
got so involved in every aspect of our lives, but this is the way it will be again. We just need to reduce the
tax burden signicantly enough so that there is enough money left over in the hands of the people for
big ideas to be chased. The world used to be an oyster, now it is run by theft and committee decree.
People wonder why big scientic projects cannot ever happen -- it's not because Congress doesn't
budget enough money to science and startup companies, it's because that it does.

Samson on January 15 2014 said:

Thank you Ms Dewan and Mr Massie, you two really look like you know what your doing. So i'm going to
move to put the future of nuclear power in your hands. Keep on moving forward, you seem to know
exactly where nuclear power needs to go in the future.

T. Grifn on April 11 2014 said:

Vandenbosch: this depends entirely upon the materials that are chosen to build the primary side
pressure vessel... Well, vessel in this case, as it operates at atmospheric pressure. A common problem,
and controllable risk in light water reactors is the formation of Co-60. The half life is only about 5.2
years, but it beta decays at a rather high energy (2.4ish MeV iirc). If these designers are as progressive

as touted, perhaps they can nd materials without known isotope propagators. This seems plausible as
there will not be terribly stringent pressure retaining requirements, on the primary side at least.
I nd it somewhat misleading to suggest that water in a light water reactor boils at 100C. A traditional
PWR utility reactor's primary side operates at ~300 C and 2000 psig, maintaining the liquid state of the
water.

David T on June 18 2014 said:

Sounds somewhat like the em2 reactor that General Atomics is proposing -- at least in terms of using
nuclear waste as its fuel.

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