Article is typical for Popular Mechanics, which was clickbait-tier journalism before the world wide web was even a glint in Tim Berners-Lee's eye. Author leads with statement about Moltex Energy, but never once mentions that their reactor design is a molten chloride (not flouride) type reactor which is significant because it eliminates corrosion issues that would complicate proof testing and regulatory requirements for MSRs. Moltex's SSR is engineered in a way to minimize the other regulatory hurdles that molten salt reactors have in that it doesn't require pumps to circulate 600 C degree fuel salt that in operation would be more radioactive per liter than the corium that produced Chernobyl's infamous "Elephant Foot". Finally, there is no carbon moderator in a Moltex SSR that would limit core life to 5-7 years like the original MSRs. And because it is a fast spectrum reactor, it can be easily adapted to burn virtually everything from spent LWR fuel, to DU, to Thorium.
Article is typical for Popular Mechanics, which was clickbait-tier journalism before the world wide web was even a glint in Tim Berners-Lee's eye. Author leads with statement about Moltex Energy, but never once mentions that their reactor design is a molten chloride (not flouride) type reactor which is significant because it eliminates corrosion issues that would complicate proof testing and regulatory requirements for MSRs. Moltex's SSR is engineered in a way to minimize the other regulatory hurdles that molten salt reactors have in that it doesn't require pumps to circulate 600 C degree fuel salt that in operation would be more radioactive per liter than the corium that produced Chernobyl's infamous "Elephant Foot". Finally, there is no carbon moderator in a Moltex SSR that would limit core life to 5-7 years like the original MSRs. And because it is a fast spectrum reactor, it can be easily adapted to burn virtually everything from spent LWR fuel, to DU, to Thorium.
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