China sets launch date for world’s first thorium molten salt nuclear power plant

Submission Statement:

China plans to start building the world’s first molten salt reactor power station next year in the [Gobi Desert](https://archive.is/o/zGs0E/https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3252564/china-builds-electric-power-gobi-and-western-deserts-equal-half-us-capacity.The) reactor does not need water for cooling because it uses liquid salt and carbon dioxide to transfer heat and generate electricity.Using thorium as its primary fuel, it means worries over a potential shortage of uranium – the usual fuel used in nuclear reactors – are allayed, as thorium is more abundant than uranium.According to some [scientists’](https://archive.is/o/zGs0E/https://www.scmp.com/topics/china-science) estimates, China has enough thorium reserves to meet its energy needs for 20,000 years.The reactor is scheduled to be completed and operational in 2029, generating heat at a maximum power of 60 megawatts.Part of the thermal energy will drive a 10MW electric power unit, and the rest will produce hydrogen by splitting water molecules at high temperature.The small, [modular](https://archive.is/o/zGs0E/https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3244234/small-modular-nuclear-reactors-how-china-and-us-are-poles-apart-energy-ambitions), thorium-based molten salt reactor power station will be constructed and operated by the Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Also the Big thing with this is that it could be retrofitted to go on hydrogen 3 which is what the Moon is made out of and it’s the most abundant thing the Moon is made out of and it’s amazing fuel like one truck tanker could power the whole entire world

I wish we were doing this instead of arguing about dinosaur remains. Unironically the state of the west smh