An innovative system of power generation modules, interchange - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

An innovative system of power generation modules, interchange maintenance, and liquid fuel service that produces energy cheaper than coal.

ThorCon is based on Oak Ridge labs’ proven nuclear power technology.

Uranium and thorium in molten salt. ThorCon redesign:

• modular production
• 50 years of science
• modern materials
• fast computers

Result:

• rapid production
• cheaper than coal

Oak Ridge molten salt reactor ran from 1965 to 1969.

World electricity demand will increase by 20 trillion kilowatt hours -- 2300 GW.

Source: EIA

1400 GW more coal-fueled power plants are already planned.

Source: EIA Quads

Though coal emits deadly particulates and CO2, economies need cheap energy.

Nations resist carbon taxes. Kyoto failed; Copenhagen failed; Tianjin failed; Cancun failed: Bangkok failed; Bonn failed; Panama failed; Durban failed.

1758 GW 434 GW 5520 GW

Rest of world

US

Scenario US cuts electricity use in half. All nations achieve this use. 217 GW

Conservation won’t stop the growth.

2010 2050

ThorCon produces energy cheaper than coal.

Electricity costs, cents/kWh

ThorCon

Global market for 2300 GW of ThorCon power generation plants is ~ $5 trillion.

Technology Scenario $ per kWh $ per watt Capital spend ($ billion) Coal .056 2.80 6,400 Nuclear (AP1000) .081 6.40 12,400 Natural Gas CC .048 1.00 2,300 ThorCon .031 2.00 4,600 Capital expenditures through 2040

• Meeting just 10% of demand over 30 years would require

production of 30 250-MW ThorCon modules per year.

• Annual sales revenue would be $15 billion.

Weinberg had proposed the pressurized water reactor to for naval propulsion.

Eisenhower’s confidence in Rickover led to

a world of solid-fuel, water-cooled reactors.

Weinberg’s other invention was the molten salt reactor.

1954 860 C Red hot! 2.5 MW Low pressure Aircraft plan

Kewaunee shut down May 2013. Vermont Yankee shutting down Dec 2014. $4/MBTU natural gas can make 4.3 cent/kWh electricity.

These solid-fuel nuclear reactors don’t compete with natural gas.

Georgia Vogtle plant costs $16 billion for 2.2 GW ($6.4/watt) capital cost recovery = 6.4 cents/kWh + fuel and ops à 8.1 cents/kWh

The new Westinghouse AP1000 will not compete with coal.

SpaceX focused on cost innovation.

Situation Shuttle complexity. 1970s technology.

SpaceX Falcon 1 $443 million NASA estimate $1.4 to 4 billion.

Innovation Entirely new rocket engine. Small teams, low overhead. First flight after 6 years.

Liquid fuel is the ThorCon cost innovation.

Uranium and thorium dissolved in liquid. One radioactive moving part -- the pump. ThorCon is based on ORNL proven technology. Low cost design by modular factory production. Oak Ridge molten salt reactor ran from 1965 to 1969.

nucleons ¡ Th ¡90 ¡ Pa ¡91 ¡ U ¡92 ¡ Np ¡93 ¡ Pu ¡94 ¡ 241 ¡ 240 ¡ 239 ¡ 238 ¡ 237 ¡ 236 ¡ 235 ¡ 234 ¡ 233 ¡ 232 ¡ neutron absorption beta decay fission Am ¡95 ¡

Uranium-235, Uranium-238, and Thorium-232 all can provide energy.

Fission ¡ products ¡ separator ¡ Th-­‑232 ¡ U-­‑235 ¡ ¡ ¡

Th-­‑232 ¡

n ¡ n ¡ Heat ¡ exchangers ¡ Salt ¡

ThorCon uses fertile Th-232, U-238, and fissile U-235 fuel.

Fissile U-235 denatured with U-238 is highly proliferation resistant

U-­‑233 ¡ ¡ ¡

U-­‑235 ¡with ¡ U-­‑238 ¡

Xe+Kr+Nobles ¡ ¡

Salt changed after U-238 and soluble FPs build up.

Turbine ¡and ¡generator ¡ U-­‑238 ¡ U-­‑233 ¡ ¡ ¡ n ¡ n ¡ Pu-­‑239 ¡ ¡ ¡

Walk-away-safe ThorCon reduces defense-in-depth systems costs.

Fuse plug

Stable reactivity. No propulsive pressure. Melting fuse plug dumps salt to tank. Salt from rupture or leak will solidify.

ThorCon has no costly pressure vessel and nil reinforced concrete.

Nov 2013 780 tons China AP1000

ThorCon module pairs generate 250 MWe each.

Active, generating power Used, passively cooling Ready, with fresh fuel Empty Each operates 4 years, cools 3 years, then is swapped out

ThorCon converts energy via four heat transfer loops.

Fuel salt Clean salt Solar salt Steam

Reactor ¡ Turbine

Radioactivity boundary à

704 C 621 C 598 C 538C

Heat exchangers

The radioactive cans of each module are replaced after cooling.

Can recycling plant

The radioactive fuel salt is exchanged after 8 years of use.

Fuel salt recycling facility

The canship exchanges reactor cans and fuel salt.

A single can recovery facility serves 50 plants.

Decontamination Disassembly pump heat exchanger drain tank membrane wall graphite Refurbishing Reassembly

A small shipyard can build ten 1-GWe ThorCon power plants a year.

ThorCon blocks are assembled on site.

ThorCon is smaller than an ultra-large crude carrier.

1 GWe ThorCon silo hall

ULCC ThorCon Overall dimensions (m) 380 x 68 x 25 146 x 23 x 29 Steel (mt) 67,591 14,700 Stainless steel (mt) 100 1,950 High-nickel alloy (mt) 253 Concrete (m3) 42,000

ThorCon has technology and fuel flexibility.

Technology Fuel Circumstance Nabe NaF + BeF2 5LEU 5% U-235

7Li and 20LEU not yet

commercially available 20LEU + Th Reduces U requirements with Th Flibe 7LiF + BeF2 20LEU + Th When 7Li available, more power from Th Pu + Th Consume separated LWR Pu

A nuclear power plant can be built quickly.

Camp Century Greenland 2 MWe American Locomotive factory modules 1959 + 2 years Nautilus First ever PWR 10 MWe Electric Boat full scale Prototype 1949 + 4 + 2 years Hanford Pu production 250 MWt DuPont, GE 1942 + 2 years

Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Cheap, reliable, carbon-free electricity NOW! no new technology

no new research no unobtainable materials shipyard production speed replaceable irradiated materials

The ThorCon design philosophy conquers enemy time.

steam power conversion factory quality control fixable, replaceable parts no scale-up delay

Phase 1 tests Phase 2 tests Seed Deploy ThorCons

Year 1 Complete engineering and contract with shipyard.

COMPLETE ENGINEERING technical staff 4,000,000 tests 2,000,000 financing for prototypes 1,000,000 host nation marketing/permits 3,000,000 $10,000,000 Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 $10 million Phase 1 tests Phase 2 tests Seed Deploy ThorCons

Year 2 Build non-nuclear prototype.

BUILD NON-NUCLEAR PROTOTYPE power and transfer modules 65,000,000 technical staff 6,000,000 host nation marketing/permits 4,000,000 $75,000,000 Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 $10 $75 million

Phase 1 has one 250 MW can with salt but no fissile material. No concrete in steel sandwich walls. No lead shield in radtank. No offgas processing. SS not Haynes drain tank. Iron heat sink. No steam turbine/generator.

Phase 1 tests Phase 2 tests Seed Deploy ThorCons

Year 3 Test non-nuclear prototype.

TEST NON-NUCLEAR PROTOTYPE salt 3,000,000 electric power 1,000,000 technical staff 7,000,000 host nation marketing/permits 4,000,000 $15,000,000 Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 $10 $75 $15 million

Phase 1 tests require heating with electricity. Fuse plug, drain tank. Membrane cooling wall. Heat exchangers. Control rods. Pumps. Instrumentation. Both passive decay heat cooling paths.

• - -

Phase 1 tests Phase 2 tests Seed Deploy ThorCons

Year 4 Build nuclear prototype.

BUILD NUCLEAR PROTOTYPE 2 250 MW power modules transfer module turbine hall 500 MW steam turbine generator $350,000,000 Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 $10 $75 $15 $350 million

Phase 2 has two power modules with 250 MW cans, salt and fissile material. At testing site. Includes items excluded from Phase 1.

Phase 1 tests Phase 2 tests Seed Deploy ThorCons

Year 5 Test nuclear prototype.

TEST NUCLEAR PROTOTYPE staff replacement parts customer nation licensing $20,000,000 Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 $10 $75 $15 $350 $20 million

Phase 2 tests generate power from fissioning uranium. Repeat Phase 1 tests. Achieve criticality. Ramp to full power tests. Test off-gas systems. Test loss of load. Test pump failures. Test load following.

• - - -

Phase 1 tests Phase 2 tests Seed Deploy ThorCons

Year 6 Build customers’ ThorCons.

BUILD THORCONS Revenue (each 1 GW) 2,000,000,000 Cost of sales (each) 1,000,000,000

• Gross margin (each)

$1,000,000,000 Phase 1 tests Phase 2 tests Seed Deploy ThorCons $10 $75 $15 $350 $20 Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

ThorCon technology is low cost.

Liquid fuel nuclear reactors

• Over a billion dollars of Oak Ridge R&D ($2014)
• Liquid fuel, low part count, single fuel-salt pump
• High temperature, high efficiency

+

• Uses only commercially available materials
• Shipyard block construction,
• Strong quality control
• Rapid assembly on site
• Off-site fuel processing, module maintenance

Utility customers will benefit from ThorCon economies.

Energy cheaper than coal

• Dispatchable, reliable electric power
• Small emergency planning zone
• Low operator labor cost
• Incremental capital investments < $500 million
• Online refueling
• Maintenance by replacement
• Maintenance outages limited to 250 MW
• Remote monitoring
• No radioactive legacy

The public will benefit from ThorCon safety.

Walk-away safe

• Below-grade radioactive materials
• Atmospheric-pressure reactor vessel
• Safety, stability intrinsic from physics
• Fuse plug and drain tank
• No safety-grade control system reliance
• Rupture spills molten salt, not gas or particulates

The world will benefit from ThorCon environmental impacts.

Fire and water replacement

• Inexpensive, inexhaustible energy
• Replace coal mining, excavation, and burning
• Cut CO2 emissions from coal, natural gas plants
• End deaths from atmospheric particulates
• Stop deforestation from burning wood
• Cut flooding of fertile land by hydroelectric dams
• End energy poverty in the developing world
• Reduce wars over oil, natural gas

China is undertaking thorium molten salt reactor development.

Jiang Mianheng (CAS), Xu Hongjie (SINAP), Robert Hargraves

$350 million 5 years initial phase Molten salt cooled pebble bed reactor 2017 Molten salt fueled reactor 2020

However, China’s energy mix forecasts indicate they have nothing they believe will replace coal.

• years ahead of

contenders

• complete power

plant design

• designed for

shipyard mass production

• meets IAEA

SSR-2/1

ThorCon NOW

US progress is, for the time being, held captive by its political and legal system.

Prescriptive, specific to solid fuel reactors Not risk-informed, performance-based, technology-neutral regulation No cost/benefit analysis NQA-1 paperwork substitutes for safety Evidence contradicts Linear No-threshold Theory. LNT pervades all regulations. As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA) python Occupational limit: 50 mSv/year, astronauts 500 EPA public limit: “well under” 1 mSv/year IAEA evacuation limit: 220 mSv/year. Yucca Mountain limit: 0.1 mSv/year, Pr {0.99999999} NRC EPA

• The world must look for other leadership.

Mutual opportunities exist today.

ThorCon seeks nation with

• Industrial capability
• Skilled workforce
• Waterside sites for
• manufacturing
• Phase 1 testing
• Phase 2 testing
• can refurbishment
• salt recycling
• Rational regulator

National benefits

• Energy security
• $15 billion/yr exports
• Jobs
• Global climate

leadership

Prosperity stabilizes population.

GDP per capita

Children per woman 82 nations with populations

• ver 10 million.

ßStable replacement rate

Prosperity

$0 ¡ ¡ $5,000 ¡ ¡ $10,000 ¡ ¡ $15,000 ¡ ¡ $20,000 ¡ ¡ $25,000 ¡ ¡ $30,000 ¡ ¡ $35,000 ¡ ¡ $40,000 ¡ ¡ $45,000 ¡ ¡ $50,000 ¡ ¡ 0 ¡ 2000 ¡ 4000 ¡ 6000 ¡ 8000 ¡ 10000 ¡

Prosperity

Prosperity depends on energy.

GDP per capita

Annual kWh per capita

Nations with populations

• ver 10 million.

Check global warming.

• Install three 250-MW ThorCon modules each

week to replace existing coal power in 40 years.

• Double this to satisfy new demand.

2024 2062 10 billion tons CO2 Annual emissions from world coal power plants ß ß 1400 GWY

In ThorCon actinides fission or form new actinides to fission.