Also being tested now, big advantage of thorium reactors is that they use molten salt instead of water. This means you don’t have to build them next to large bodies of water for cooling, and in case of a shutdown the salt solidifies precluding the problems with radioactive leaks. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02459-w
will these 150 be thorium based ?
( 2nd ref., yours is paywalled )
possible answer :
( source )
(…) the international Nuclear Energy Agency predicts that the thorium cycle will never be commercially viable while uranium is available in abundance—a situation which may persist “in the coming decades”.
I suspect the ability to build thorium reactors away from large water sources may play a role as well as availability. My understanding is that’s the main reason China is experimenting with them. However, I’m guessing the 150 proposed reactors will be uranium based since it’s mature technology.
Also being tested now, big advantage of thorium reactors is that they use molten salt instead of water. This means you don’t have to build them next to large bodies of water for cooling, and in case of a shutdown the salt solidifies precluding the problems with radioactive leaks. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02459-w
will these 150 be thorium based ?
( 2nd ref., yours is paywalled )
possible answer :
( source )
(…) the international Nuclear Energy Agency predicts that the thorium cycle will never be commercially viable while uranium is available in abundance—a situation which may persist “in the coming decades”.
I suspect the ability to build thorium reactors away from large water sources may play a role as well as availability. My understanding is that’s the main reason China is experimenting with them. However, I’m guessing the 150 proposed reactors will be uranium based since it’s mature technology.