Thorium Molten Salt Reactor Nuclear Energy System

Furukawa, K. 1992. The Combined System of Accelerator Molten-Salt Breeder (AMSB) and Molten-Salt Converter Reactor (MSCR). Japan-US Seminar on Th Fuel Reactors, Nara, Japan. Furukawa, K. et al. 1990. Summary Report Thorium Molten-Salt Nuclear Energy Synergetics./. Nucl. Sci. Technol. 27,1155-1178. 

The FUJI concept was proposed in connection with the philosophy of the thorium molten salt nuclear energy synergetic system (THORIMS-NES) [XXX-4 to XXX-6], explained in more detail in Section XXX-1.5. Different from the MSBR, the FUJI is a concept of a simplified molten salt reactor without continuous chemical processing and periodic core graphite replacement, aimed at attaining near-breeder characteristics in a Th-U closed fuel cycle. 

The metal is a source of nuclear power. There is probably more energy available for use from thorium in the minerals of the earth s crust than from both uranium and fossil fuels. Any sizable demand from thorium as a nuclear fuel is still several years in the future. Work has been done in developing thorium cycle converter-reactor systems. Several prototypes, including the HTGR (high-temperature gas-cooled reactor) and MSRE (molten salt converter reactor experiment), have operated. While the HTGR reactors are efficient, they are not expected to become important commercially for many years because of certain operating difficulties. 

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