LFTR updates recently include DOE GAIN funding vouchers awarded in 2018 and 2019 to Flibe Energy.
2018 – "Fluorination of Lithium Fluoride-Beryllium Fluoride (FLiBe) Molten Salt Processing – Flibe Energy has teamed with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to examine the use of nitrogen trifluoride as an agent to remove uranium from a molten-salt fuel mixture as a preliminary step for the removal of fission products. DOE Funding: $2,101,982; Non-DOE: $525,500; Total Value: $2,627,482" -DOE
2019 – "LFTR Preliminary Safeguards Assessment with partner facility Oak Ridge National Laboratory" -DOE
Kirk Sorensen's talks and interviews were recorded in Brussels at Thorium Energy Conference 2018 at the end of October.
Supplementary interview footage was shot at Oak Ridge National Laboratory during Molten Salt Workshop 2018 at the start of October.
This video capture and edit is a collaboration between iThEO and the "Thorium Remix" project.
Useful timecodes:
00:00 DOE changes regarding Molten Salt Reactors.
01:34 Multitude of Molten Salt Reactor companies and designs.
03:36 Kirk analogy between PC revolution and pending MSR revolution.
04:36 Why do some MSR use Thorium but most do not?
08:35 How can academia help MSR effort? Research of value to everyone?
09:27 We need students who have played with salt. Skills for students?
10:17 Electromotive series. Separate Fission Products.
11:48 Chloride salts vs Fluoride salts.
12:22 MSRE experience with Fluoride Salts, Graphite, Hastelloy-N.
12:58 Acquiring U233 (Uranium-233) to seed LFTR. 2 Inventories.
13:31 Online chemical reprocessing embraced with LFTR. Proliferation?
16:07 Multiple revenue streams, not just sale of electricity.
19:38 Electricity generation seeing lack of innovation. (Time traveler.)
22:39 Carbon tax challenges. Kirk sees energy remaining inexpensive.
25:20 Wind and solar using grid as battery, the biggest subsidy.
26:51 Biggest challenge is not engineering, is communication.
27:40 Techno-optimism vs dystopia fiction.
30:10 Positive messages: We live longer lives. Cancer challenge.
31:25 Messages being heard that Thorium is not just energy.
32:07 DOE meetings Advanced Energy means Molten Salt Reactors.
33:20 Funding remains hardest challenge. DOE GAIN $2.6 Million PNNL.
33:56 Nitrogen Tri-Fluoride. NF3. Extract Uranium from Molten Salt.
34:38 Student? Exciting developments to work on.
