This is a much bigger story than you might initially think. It’s equivalent to the first combustion powered or steam powered ships. This is the technology that will change warfare over the next few decades. And China is so far ahead in it it’s almost baffling. The US really dropped the ball on this. If China takes this tech and runs with it they’ll be untouchable in 20 years.
The S6W reactor produces comparable power output, just with traditional uranium instead of thorium. Although thorium might be cheaper and safer, capability-wise it doesn’t really change anything, right, when comparing apples to apples? This doesn’t in itself mean Chinese ships can now do laps around the fastest US ships. I’m not knowledgeable about this so feel free to correct me on that. I just haven’t found anything indicating a military advantage so far.
What new capabilities does this reactor type offer?
Wrong on the it doesnt change anything. Thorium changes everything. It’s still in the very early stages of development so yes it does appear similar to uranium reactors but what you need to understand is these can get SMALL. It’s about density of energy production. The S6W and other traditional reactors are stuck being huge. You need fuel rods, and water cooling which takes up tons of space.
The molten salt coolant requires a lot less space than a water based coolant, and because thorium itself is so much easier to work with you can create what is referred to as Small Modular Reactors.
Basically the idea is they would function like an engine. You could construct them entirely in factories and ship them to where they are needed and simply slot them into place.
You’ve also got the pressure issue, and meltdown issue. Traditional reactors have high pressure steam to deal with. If it gets shot, and springs a leak it EXPLODES. Not ideal for a high risk naval asset that’s job is to get shot at. Plus the reaction can get out of control if the reactor is damaged and cause an ecological disaster. Thorium doesn’t have these issues. It’s pressure is the same as atmosphere basically, and its pretty much meltdown proof.
So to sum it up, Liquid Salt Thorium Reactors are smaller, safer, more economical (can be produced at scale and the fuel is much more common), tactically viable in more areas, and probably other stuff I’m forgetting.
Also a little bonus is that Uranium requires sourcing usually from overseas. It’s not really a viable replacement for oil since it’s rare. Need enrichment, etc. Just with the Thorium that China currently has in it’s domestic reserves it could power it’s entire electric grid for 60,000 years. So no need to import it, or worry about sourcing.
It’s one of those things like the Hoover Dam - certainly an impressive finished product- but the number of engineering/construction innovations that made it possible (e.g. concrete curing methodology) and then disseminated to the industry at large is even more impressive (imo).
For instance I’m so excited about this:
The 200MW heat generated by the reactor is not used directly to drive the ship, according to Hu. Instead, it powers a supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) generator using the Brayton cycle – a highly efficient thermodynamic process that converts heat into electricity far more effectively than traditional steam turbines.
The Brayton cycle uses compressed gas – in this case, carbon dioxide – heated to extreme temperatures, then expanded through turbines to generate power. Supercritical CO2 behaves like both a liquid and a gas, allowing for compact, high-efficiency systems.
And about molten salt reactors in general (honestly I’ll take any meaningful innovation at this point).
To sound like a gamer, it does make me feel like a CIV scientist working a space race victory but being obviously far behind other countries. Very happy someone is making progress, hopeful it will spread to my backwater nation, and annoyed that the nation which employs me constantly switches to pursuit of a domination victory (which they also are woefully flailing at).
It’s a bit like those games where you can choose between a tech rush and military focus. Military focus works fine for the first little bit, but then the tech rush civs switch to military and are wiping the floor with you using way better tech weapons.
Like if China keeps making these reactors smaller they could get one onto a battle cruiser or destroyer potentially. And power a DEW array. Which would basically make missiles childsplay to shoot down, and could even be used to melt right through the hull of enemy ships at close range. Were talking about the ability to vaporize every person on a ships bridge in seconds as long as you have line of sight on them.
This is a much bigger story than you might initially think. It’s equivalent to the first combustion powered or steam powered ships. This is the technology that will change warfare over the next few decades. And China is so far ahead in it it’s almost baffling. The US really dropped the ball on this. If China takes this tech and runs with it they’ll be untouchable in 20 years.
The S6W reactor produces comparable power output, just with traditional uranium instead of thorium. Although thorium might be cheaper and safer, capability-wise it doesn’t really change anything, right, when comparing apples to apples? This doesn’t in itself mean Chinese ships can now do laps around the fastest US ships. I’m not knowledgeable about this so feel free to correct me on that. I just haven’t found anything indicating a military advantage so far.
What new capabilities does this reactor type offer?
Wrong on the it doesnt change anything. Thorium changes everything. It’s still in the very early stages of development so yes it does appear similar to uranium reactors but what you need to understand is these can get SMALL. It’s about density of energy production. The S6W and other traditional reactors are stuck being huge. You need fuel rods, and water cooling which takes up tons of space.
The molten salt coolant requires a lot less space than a water based coolant, and because thorium itself is so much easier to work with you can create what is referred to as Small Modular Reactors.
Basically the idea is they would function like an engine. You could construct them entirely in factories and ship them to where they are needed and simply slot them into place.
You’ve also got the pressure issue, and meltdown issue. Traditional reactors have high pressure steam to deal with. If it gets shot, and springs a leak it EXPLODES. Not ideal for a high risk naval asset that’s job is to get shot at. Plus the reaction can get out of control if the reactor is damaged and cause an ecological disaster. Thorium doesn’t have these issues. It’s pressure is the same as atmosphere basically, and its pretty much meltdown proof.
So to sum it up, Liquid Salt Thorium Reactors are smaller, safer, more economical (can be produced at scale and the fuel is much more common), tactically viable in more areas, and probably other stuff I’m forgetting.
Also a little bonus is that Uranium requires sourcing usually from overseas. It’s not really a viable replacement for oil since it’s rare. Need enrichment, etc. Just with the Thorium that China currently has in it’s domestic reserves it could power it’s entire electric grid for 60,000 years. So no need to import it, or worry about sourcing.
It’s one of those things like the Hoover Dam - certainly an impressive finished product- but the number of engineering/construction innovations that made it possible (e.g. concrete curing methodology) and then disseminated to the industry at large is even more impressive (imo).
For instance I’m so excited about this:
And about molten salt reactors in general (honestly I’ll take any meaningful innovation at this point).
To sound like a gamer, it does make me feel like a CIV scientist working a space race victory but being obviously far behind other countries. Very happy someone is making progress, hopeful it will spread to my backwater nation, and annoyed that the nation which employs me constantly switches to pursuit of a domination victory (which they also are woefully flailing at).
It’s a bit like those games where you can choose between a tech rush and military focus. Military focus works fine for the first little bit, but then the tech rush civs switch to military and are wiping the floor with you using way better tech weapons.
Like if China keeps making these reactors smaller they could get one onto a battle cruiser or destroyer potentially. And power a DEW array. Which would basically make missiles childsplay to shoot down, and could even be used to melt right through the hull of enemy ships at close range. Were talking about the ability to vaporize every person on a ships bridge in seconds as long as you have line of sight on them.