The Daily Populous Friday April 18th, 2025 evening edition
Authored by amp.scmp.com and submitted by jfy

Chinese scientists have achieved a milestone in clean energy technology by successfully adding fresh fuel to an operational thorium molten salt reactor, according to state media reports.

It marks the first long-term, stable operation of the technology, putting China at the forefront of a global race to harness thorium – considered a safer and more abundant alternative to uranium – for nuclear power.

The development was announced by the project’s chief scientist, Xu Hongjie, during a closed-door meeting at the Chinese Academy of Sciences on April 8, the official Guangming Daily reported on Friday.

The experimental reactor, located in the Gobi Desert in China’s west, uses molten salt as the fuel carrier and coolant, and thorium – a radioactive element abundant in the Earth’s crust – as the fuel source. The reactor is reportedly designed to sustainably generate 2 megawatts of thermal power.

Some experts see the technology as the next energy revolution and claim that just one thorium-rich mine in Inner Mongolia could – theoretically – meet China’s energy needs for tens of thousands of years, while producing minimal radioactive waste.

During the April 8 meeting, Xu said China “now leads the global frontier”, according to Guangming Daily.

paladinx17 on April 18th, 2025 at 05:23 UTC »

Oh yeah? Well the US is sending folks from Virginia back to the coal mines! More COAL!

-43andharsh on April 18th, 2025 at 03:20 UTC »

> Rabbits sometimes make mistakes or grow lazy. That’s when the tortoise seizes its chance,” Xu told the meeting, referring to the US abandoning its molten salt reactor research in the 1970s after initial experiments.

👍

steeljesus on April 18th, 2025 at 03:05 UTC »

The US is falling behind in a lot of areas of tech