C$10 Million to Develop First Molten Salt Molten Reactor

Moltex was founded in 2014 by Dr. Ian Scott, and was independently moneyed up until 2018. Moltex’s objective is to allow low-priced tidy energy as a practical economic solution.

On 2018 -07 -13, New Brunswick Power and NB G overnment agreed to construct, own and operate a SSR-W300, with New Brunswick and Moltex each financing CAD $5,000,000 towards development. Moltex Energy’s North American head office is in Saint John, NB.

Moltex is presently part method through Stage 1 of 2 of Canadian Supplier Style Review.

They are one of eight reactor designs competing for about 56 million pounds in funding in the UK.

In 2016, Moltex talked to Nuclear Energy Expert and said their over night capital expense would be under $2/W based on an independent expense price quote by a leading UK engineering company. Further decreases to this over night cost are expected for modularised construction. For comparison, the capital expense of a contemporary pulverized coal power station in the U.S. is $3.25/W and the cost of Hinkley Point C is $7.46/W.

$2 per watt capital expenses are about the level of expense that China has for nuclear plant building and construction.

The overnight capital cost of the SSR is estimated at $1.95/W based on a 1 GW plant, according to Moltex Energy. In comparison, U.S. overnight capital expense of coal-fired generation is approximated at $3.25/W, gas-fired generation at around $1/W and large-scale nuclear at $5.5/W, the Energy Info Administration (EIA) stated in a 2013 study.

Lower-cost nuclear reactors would be able to complete for 30% of the estimated world energy market in 2040.

The Levelised Cost of Energy (LCOE) of the SSR is estimated at $44.64/MWh for a 1 GW plant and this is based on highly-conservative estimates for Operations and Maintenance (O&M) expenses, O’Sullivan stated.

This LCOE is far listed below the EIA’s expense projections for new coal and gas-fired units in 2020, at $95/MWh and $75/MWh, respectively.

Canada’s Terrestrial Energy has said the overnight capital cost of its molten salt reactor design also completes favorably versus fossil fuel plants and has actually forecasted a LCOE of $40-$50/MWh for a 300 MWe plant.

This low capital cost results in a Levelised Expense of Electricity (LCOE) of simply $44/MWhr with significant possible to be yet lower

Adam Owens of https://moltexenergy. com/ outlines Moltex Energy’s 3 reactor designs:
SSR-W,
SSR-U and
SSR-Th.

Each one targets a various world market, with the main distinction being SSR-W is sustained by Plutonium from invested reactor fuel.

Timecode index…
00:48 Moltex innovation portfolio is explained
02:07 Fast release – avoid hardest regulative hurdles
02:50 Gigawatt scale
03:29 first-of-kind MSR innovation investable by private market
04:40 3 versions of fuel cycle: SSR-W, SSR-U, SSR-Th
05:25 Grid reserve – act as a peaking plant like a CCGT
06:37 WATSS – WAste To Stable Salt
07:10 Moltex company background – founded in 2014
08:05 Activities in UK – AMR F easibility Research study
09:07 Activities in Canada – Supplier Style Review
10:13 MOU with New Brunswick Power (Canada) Pilot SSR
11:42 SSR-W (Stable Salt Reactor Waste Burner)
14:20 SSR-U (Stable Salt Reactor 5% low-enriched Uranium)
15:51 SSR-Th (Stable Salt Reactor Thorium breeder)
16:54 Implementation Roadmap – needs a mix of all 3 reactors

SSR-W:
– Fast-spectrum Wasteburner fueled by Pu from spent fuel.
– Molten chloride salt fuel, NaCl-AnCl3 sustained.
– Primary coolant is NaF-KF-ZrF4.
– WATSS (Waste to Stable Salt) recovers An/Ln from invested oxide fuel liabilities.
– Core modules contain reactor core elements inc pumps and heat exchangers.
– SSR-W1000 is an identical style with more modules in a longer tank.
– 525 -630 C.

SSR-U:
– Low Enriched Uranium Burner (~5%).
– Molten UFx salt fuel.
– Adopts current water reactor fuel cycle facilities.
– Style heavily-related to SSR-W.
– Larger core volume than SSR-W.
– 600 -700 C+.

SSR-Th:
– Thorium Breeder.
– Molten UFx salt fuel.
– Thorium-based coolant supplants the zirconium-based coolant.
– Fertile primary coolant NaF-ThF4.
– Bismuth extraction column extracts Pa/U into a U238 diluent.
– ~5% U233 alloy is processed back into steady salt fuel.
– 650 -750 C+.

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