SMRs & ADVANCED REACTORS | THORIUM MOLTEN SALT REACTOR the story so far


Copenhagen Atomics:


Copenhagen Atomics aims to introduce a new nuclear reactor design that promises to be dramatically cheaper than existing technologies, and can be operational within this decade


Jesper Glahn Copenhagen Atomics


THE TECHNOLOGY BEING DEVELOPED BY Copenhagen Atomics is a heavy water moderated thorium molten salt reactor built into a 40-foot container, manufactured in a similar way to how cars are produced today. The plan is to mass manufacture the reactors on an assembly line, with an output of one reactor per day per assembly line. The output per reactor is 100 MW thermal and the idea is


to put them together like Lego bricks for large deployments. This makes the technology suitable for power production and other applications like process heat for industrial use, including production of hydrogen and green ammonia. The technology is expected to reach an electricity price


(LCoE) below $20/MWh in a mass manufacturing scenario. Copenhagen Atomics is also planning an “energy-as-a- service” business model, where it will build, own, operate and decommission the thorium reactor, with no investment required by the customer, and no need for taxpayer investments. As an extra benefit the thorium reactor can utilise spent fuel from conventional nuclear power plants (thereby reducing the storage time from 100,000 years to 300 years). For this reason, the technology is called a waste burner.


Copenhagen Atomics is a “product-first” company and


has already built and is operating its first full size non- fission prototype reactor, running at 600°C. To get to this point extensive R&D and testing has been carried out in support of achieving this major milestone, in accordance with an aggressive roadmap that calls for a commercial launch by 2028. The “product-first” approach has been pioneered by


companies like Tesla and SpaceX, and Copenhagen Atomics subscribes to the same concept: build; test; refine; and harden technology for success. The world is in dire need of extra power generation


capacity while reducing, eventually eliminating, emissions. The only way to do this is by adopting innovations from many avenues. The company believes that thorium molten salt technology can make a significant contribution to the transformation of the global energy system and one scenario suggests that the energy output of thorium reactors in 40 years time could be similar to that of gas today.


So how did this all come about…? The foundation and


origin was the MSRE (Molten Salt Reactor Experiment), a thorium breeder reactor that ran for five years back in the


CURRENT STATUS MARCH 2024


95% DONE


75% DONE


25% DONE


5% DONE


1% DONE


2% DONE


Right: Copenhagen Atomics’ six milestones


2015 - 2026


Technology foundation


2020 - 2024


Non-radioactive prototype reactor


2023 - 2026 nuclear test reactor 1 MW 2025 - 2029


commercial reactor


First 2029 - 2035


Assembly line reactor


production 2032 - 2035


Waste burner breeder reactor


30 | June 2024 | www.neimagazine.com


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