Thorium salt reactors in emergencies

Mike_In_Plano

Now that we've had another cooling incident / incidents, I'm curious how the Thorium flouride reactor would have faired. I've read that continous reprocessing of the salt would likely be part of the process. Does this imply that there would be less lag in the system should cooling become an issue?

- Mike

What_Is_X?

IIRC the thorium fuel cycle cannot "meltdown". Could be wrong though.

sanman

My understanding of the molten salt reactor is that there is a meltable plug that melts if the temperature gets too high, so that all the molten fuel material then drains out of the reactor core through that plug. This then averts any further reaction or heat buildup.

Thorium itself cannot sustain any runaway reaction, because its nuclear cross-section is too low. It has to be exposed to a more potent neutron source, such as uranium or plutonium.

minerva

Well, what they're really talking about is a ²³²Th --> ²³³U fuel cycle.