A Thorium Reactor in the Desert Has Rewritten the Rules of Nuclear Power
30 points 5 comments 12 hours ago
vanderZwan
As a physics drop-out any progress in developing thorium reactors is exctiting news to me. However, I don't see how this "rewrites" anything. Doesn't it just confirm what we've basically known for a long time but didn't bother to research because "nuclear = bad" in the public perception?
Fizzadar
Anyone play Mindustry? Confused for a second there.
Did anyone figure out how to handle two fundamental problems of MSRs yet?
1) Molten salt is corrosive as hell and will chew through your pipes.
2) It can't be serviced. If it ever shuts down and solidifies, it cannot restart.
Copenhagen Atomics claims to have solved 1 [0], I believe point 2 is mentioned but not in detail.
[0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjHH8Qf3aO4
the soviets had a mini sub program with reactors like that. the fleet barely made it into service before it was cancelled. I would not even want to tune up a car if it had to be running at the same time