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 Oak Ridge molten salt reactor - cheaper than coal 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. Quads Source: EIA

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.

Conservation won’t stop the growth. 5520 GW Scenario US cuts electricity use in half. All nations achieve this use. Rest of world 1758 GW 434 GW 217 GW US 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. Capital expenditures through 2040 Technology $ per $ per Capital spend Scenario kWh watt ($ 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 • 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

These solid-fuel nuclear reactors don’t compete with natural gas. Kewaunee shut down May 2013. Vermont Yankee shutting down Dec 2014. $4/MBTU natural gas can make 4.3 cent/kWh electricity.

The new Westinghouse AP1000 will not compete with coal. 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

SpaceX focused on cost innovation. Situation Shuttle complexity. 1970s technology. Innovation Entirely new rocket engine. SpaceX Falcon 1 $443 million Small teams, low overhead. NASA estimate First flight after 6 years. $1.4 to 4 billion.

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 Oak Ridge molten salt reactor production. ran from 1965 to 1969.

Uranium-235, Uranium-238, and Thorium-232 all can provide energy. nucleons ¡ Th ¡90 ¡ Pa ¡91 ¡ U ¡92 ¡ Np ¡93 ¡ Pu ¡94 ¡ Am ¡95 ¡ 241 ¡ 240 ¡ 239 ¡ 238 ¡ 237 ¡ fission 236 ¡ 235 ¡ beta decay 234 ¡ 233 ¡ 232 ¡ neutron absorption

ThorCon uses fertile Th-232, U-238, and fissile U-235 fuel. Fission ¡ Xe+Kr+Nobles ¡ ¡ Salt changed after products ¡ U-238 and soluble separator ¡ FPs build up. U-­‑233 ¡ ¡ ¡ n ¡ n ¡ U-­‑235 ¡with ¡ Pu-­‑239 ¡ ¡ ¡ U-­‑238 ¡ U-­‑238 ¡ Salt ¡ Heat ¡ U-­‑235 ¡ ¡ ¡ exchangers ¡ n ¡ Th-­‑232 ¡ n ¡ U-­‑233 ¡ ¡ ¡ Th-­‑232 ¡ Fissile U-235 denatured with U-238 is highly proliferation resistant Turbine ¡and ¡generator ¡

Walk-away-safe ThorCon reduces defense-in-depth systems costs. Stable reactivity. No propulsive Fuse plug 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. Each operates 4 years, cools 3 years, then is swapped out Empty Ready, with fresh fuel Active, generating power Used, passively cooling

ThorCon converts energy via four heat transfer loops. Heat exchangers Radioactivity boundary à 621 C 598 C 704 C 538C Turbine Reactor ¡ Fuel salt Clean salt Solar salt Steam

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) 0 253 Concrete (m 3 ) 0 42,000

ThorCon has technology and fuel flexibility. Technology Fuel Circumstance Nabe 5LEU 7 Li and 20LEU not yet 5% U-235 commercially available NaF + BeF 2 20LEU + Th Reduces U requirements with Th Flibe 20LEU + Th When 7 Li available, more power from Th 7 LiF + BeF 2 Pu + Th Consume separated LWR Pu

A nuclear power plant can be built quickly. Nautilus Hanford Camp Century First ever PWR Pu production Greenland 10 MWe 250 MWt 2 MWe Electric Boat DuPont, GE American Locomotive full scale Prototype 1942 + 2 years factory modules 1949 + 4 + 2 years 1959 + 2 years

The ThorCon design philosophy conquers enemy time . Cheap, reliable, carbon-free electricity NOW! no new technology steam power conversion no new research factory quality control no unobtainable materials fixable, replaceable parts shipyard production speed no scale-up delay replaceable irradiated materials Seed Phase 1 tests Phase 2 tests Deploy ThorCons Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

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 Seed Phase 1 tests Phase 2 tests Deploy ThorCons Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 $10 million

Year 2 Build non-nuclear prototype. Phase 1 has one 250 MW can with salt but no fissile BUILD NON-NUCLEAR PROTOTYPE material. power and transfer modules 65,000,000 No concrete in steel technical staff 6,000,000 sandwich walls. No lead shield in radtank. host nation marketing/permits 4,000,000 No offgas processing. $75,000,000 SS not Haynes drain tank. Iron heat sink. No steam turbine/generator. Seed Phase 1 tests Phase 2 tests Deploy ThorCons Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 $10 $75 million

Year 3 Test non-nuclear prototype. Phase 1 tests require TEST NON-NUCLEAR PROTOTYPE heating with electricity. Fuse plug, drain tank. salt 3,000,000 Membrane cooling wall. electric power 1,000,000 Heat exchangers. technical staff 7,000,000 Control rods. host nation marketing/permits 4,000,000 Pumps. $15,000,000 Instrumentation. Both passive decay heat cooling paths. - - - Seed Phase 1 tests Phase 2 tests Deploy ThorCons Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 $10 $75 $15 million

Year 4 Build nuclear prototype. Phase 2 has two power BUILD NUCLEAR PROTOTYPE modules with 250 MW cans, salt and fissile 2 250 MW power modules material. transfer module turbine hall At testing site. Includes items excluded 500 MW steam turbine generator from Phase 1. $ 350,000,000 Seed Phase 1 tests Phase 2 tests Deploy ThorCons Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 $10 $75 $15 $350 million

Year 5 Test nuclear prototype. Phase 2 tests generate power from fissioning TEST NUCLEAR PROTOTYPE uranium. Repeat Phase 1 tests. staff Achieve criticality. replacement parts Ramp to full power tests. customer nation licensing Test off-gas systems. Test loss of load. $ 20,000,000 Test pump failures. Test load following. - - - - Seed Phase 1 tests Phase 2 tests Deploy ThorCons Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 $10 $75 $15 $350 $20 million

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

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