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A new type of nuclear reactor will run on nuclear waste
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
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Nuclear energy can provide carbon-free electricity, but it has its drawbacks. Most people are leaning towards alternative energy sources. There is probably no one in the world who would like to see a situation similar to the Fukushima accident.
In addition, in the United States, a huge amount of nuclear waste has accumulated at nuclear power plants - more than 60 thousand tons, which the authorities do not know what to do with.
In addition, the problem of nuclear weapons proliferation, environmental threats, etc. remains relevant.
In America, one of the startup companies has started developing a new reactor model that can solve, if not all, then most of the existing problems. According to experts, a liquid salt reactor can be redesigned in such a way that it can use nuclear waste in its work. The new reactor will also be able to operate on fresh low-enriched fuel.
The idea of creating a molten salt reactor has been around for a long time; standard designs for such reactors were developed in the 1950s. But at present, such reactors are better than light water reactors, which cannot ensure a safe shutdown in the event of power outages.
But all previous designs of liquid salt reactors used highly enriched uranium fuel, while the new type of Transatomic reactors can operate on low-enriched fuel or simply use radioactive waste. Another difference of the new designs is that they produce more than 90% of the energy from the fuel over a longer period of time. In addition, the new reactor efficiency.. of the new reactor is significantly higher than those used today.
The co-founders of the start-up company, which is developing a new type of reactor, Mark Massey and Leslie Dewan, met in 2010 in Massachusetts, at one of the universities, and even then they decided to create a joint project.
The specialists first presented their project a year later, in 2011, immediately after the accident at Fukushima, and their project was a huge success with the audience.
At MIT, Massey and Dewan became the first graduates to choose nuclear energy for their project.
The young company received financial support from General Fusion, Bill Gates and other investors.
But the development and construction of a new reactor takes quite a long time. Now scientists have completed work on the project and are busy with the experimental part, which will last three years. After receiving the results, specialists will be able to talk about the cost, the ability of the parts to work in an aggressive environment or under irradiation, and answer a number of other questions. After the completion of the experimental part, work will begin on detailed drawings. The scientists plan to obtain a plot of land for the construction of a trial model of the reactor (approximately by 2020).
The company's ultimate goal is to build a 500-megawatt power plant. The Transatomic reactor can be used even in countries without large uranium reserves, in which case the uranium can be enriched from seawater. The new type of reactor will be cost-effective because it requires low levels of enrichment to operate.
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