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Title: China Advances Abandoned US Nuclear Technology

Link: https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/05/01/1818...

Chinese scientists have achieved a significant nuclear breakthrough by
successfully refueling a thorium-based reactor while it remains operational,
according to reports from Chinese state media. The experimental 2-megawatt
thermal reactor, which came online in June 2024, represents the revival of
technology originally developed and abandoned by the United States in the mid-
20th century. The milestone was revealed during a closed meeting at the
Chinese Academy of Sciences, where project leaders shared results
demonstrating the reactor's ability to be refueled without shutdown -- a
capability conventional uranium reactors lack. Though small compared to MIT's
6-megawatt research reactor, this achievement shows China's accelerating
nuclear ambitions. The country has surpassed France in nuclear generation and
recently approved 10 new reactors worth over $27 billion in investment. This
thorium reactor joins other revived nuclear concepts, including molten-salt
cooling systems and high-temperature gas reactors, as developers look to the
past for solutions to advance nuclear energy's future.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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