"The reactor, which went online two years ago, was a feat in itself. It is still the only one of its kind in operation in the world, and has the potential to be both safer and more efficient than the water-cooled nuclear plants that dominate the industry. Now, Xu explained, his team had been able to refuel the reactor without shutting it down, demonstrating a level of mastery over their new system."
"Xu explained that his team had based their design on an experimental reactor that had been built in Tennessee in the nineteen-sixties. Known as the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment, or the M.S.R.E., that project hit a dead end in the early seventies, when it lost federal funding. Xu's team had learned everything they could about the M.S.R.E. so that, decades later, they could bring the project back to life."
Xu Hongjie announced a breakthrough with an experimental molten-salt reactor that uses a lava-hot solution of fissile material and molten salt instead of solid fuel. The reactor went online two years ago and remains the only operational reactor of its kind worldwide. The team demonstrated the ability to refuel the reactor without shutting it down, indicating enhanced operational control. The design draws on the nineteen-sixties Molten Salt Reactor Experiment built in Tennessee, which lost funding in the early seventies. Chinese researchers studied the MSRE, revived its concepts with input from American scientists, and aim for greater safety and efficiency than conventional water-cooled plants, contributing to perceptions of a narrowing technology gap between China and the U.S.
Read at The New Yorker
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