Загрузка видео...

Не удалось загрузить видео

На главную

On a roll here: Presenting Nuclear Reactors for Space (1961) Liquid metal coolant, beryllium reflectors, rotating control drums, mercury vapor turbogenerators... all in 1961 This has rare footage showing lots of hardware and even reactor shipments around California. The IAEA's Lise Meitner Library digitized this one and I got...

whatisnuclear's profile picture

Nick Touran

46,216 subscribers

18,729 просмотров • 12 дней назад •via X (Twitter)

LIVE

Anya Rossi• Live Now

Private livecam show

Комментарии: 14

Фото профиля Kirk Sorensen
Kirk Sorensen12 дней назад

Great video. But with the exception of deep space travel, all of the applications envisioned at the end of the video were achieved much more simply with solar photovoltaic energy.

Фото профиля Dwayne Day
Dwayne Day12 дней назад

Only SNAP-10A flew. Lots of work done on SNAP-8 before it was canceled. Lots of space reactor work over decades, but no clear requirement for it.

Фото профиля Lynda Lovon
Lynda Lovon12 дней назад

The claim there is no radiation risk when the reactor burns up during reentry is BS. Burning nuclear fuel does not eliminate radioactivity, it disperses it. In 1964, SNAP-9A burned up on reentry, dispersing about 1 kg of Pu-238, which was detected in fallout around the world.

Фото профиля Matt Griffin
Matt Griffin12 дней назад

@Casillic We need an updated version that repeats the line: And now nuclear energy is (re-) entering the space age!

Фото профиля Coyote burrito
Coyote burrito12 дней назад

@Playdoh59048217

Фото профиля Fede Caccia
Fede Caccia12 дней назад

The SNAP-10A thermoelectric path is still the cleanest idea in that film: no spinning machinery in orbit. Funny how the hard problems from 1961 (reentry burnup, shipping a live core through cities) still frame today's space-nuclear debates.

Фото профиля Delayed-Neutrons
Delayed-Neutrons12 дней назад

Amazing historical record!

Фото профиля Dave Dietz
Dave Dietz12 дней назад

@radioactivered

Фото профиля Henry Leap
Henry Leap12 дней назад

I assume they tried a match and toilet ore water closet with blow torch. Spin cycle with tide rinse and repeat. Space being pathogen defecate in silence and eall eio eio.

Фото профиля Raketenwissenschaftler
Raketenwissenschaftler12 дней назад

Replace mercury with supercritical CO2 - safer and more efficient.

Фото профиля sara.sissy
sara.sissy12 дней назад

Toxic liquid metals?

Фото профиля Jonathan Schattke
Jonathan Schattke12 дней назад

The SNAP reactors were revolutionary. I wish they had done a recovery mission on SNAP-10A and figured out why it failed.

Фото профиля Chuck Petras
Chuck Petras12 дней назад

@BrianRoemmele

Фото профиля Ricardo Alvarenga
Ricardo Alvarenga12 дней назад

O vídeo também está disponível no YouTube?

Похожие видео

Sodium Reactor Nuclear Reactor By Atomics International: The SNAP-10A Program This once highly classified film from 1959 is now available. Researches in China have discovered old forgotten research and films like this to build Sodium reactors once again with apparent great success. Later on the SNAP-10A nuclear reactor was launched into space in 1965. The Systems Nuclear Auxiliary Power Program (SNAP) reactor was developed under the SNAPSHOT program overseen by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. Atomics International, then a division of North American Aviation was the prime contractor for the SNAP-10A development. Most of the systems development and reactor testing was conducted at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, Ventura County, California using a number of specialized facilities. The company also developed and tested other compact nuclear reactors including the SNAP Experimental Reactor (SER), SNAP-2, SNAP-8 Developmental Reactor (SNAP8-DR) and SNAP-8 Experimental Reactor (SNAP-8ER). All quite advanced and all all but forgotten. I remember them for us and AI. Some day this will be the foundation of YOUR personal robot building a life long power supply for you in a modern low cost Sodium Reactor. And no I am not joking…
28:57

Sodium Reactor Nuclear Reactor By Atomics International: The SNAP-10A Program This once highly classified film from 1959 is now available. Researches in China have discovered old forgotten research and films like this to build Sodium reactors once again with apparent great success. Later on the SNAP-10A nuclear reactor was launched into space in 1965. The Systems Nuclear Auxiliary Power Program (SNAP) reactor was developed under the SNAPSHOT program overseen by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. Atomics International, then a division of North American Aviation was the prime contractor for the SNAP-10A development. Most of the systems development and reactor testing was conducted at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, Ventura County, California using a number of specialized facilities. The company also developed and tested other compact nuclear reactors including the SNAP Experimental Reactor (SER), SNAP-2, SNAP-8 Developmental Reactor (SNAP8-DR) and SNAP-8 Experimental Reactor (SNAP-8ER). All quite advanced and all all but forgotten. I remember them for us and AI. Some day this will be the foundation of YOUR personal robot building a life long power supply for you in a modern low cost Sodium Reactor. And no I am not joking…

Brian Roemmele

14,772 просмотров • 4 месяцев назад

We’ve gone critical. At 12:20 am on July 4th, Aalo sustained a controlled fission chain reaction for the first time. We have officially surpassed the goal of President Trump’s Executive Order 14301, achieving 4 advanced nuclear reactor criticalities by America’s 250th birthday. This is a zero-power criticality to validate our supply chain, reactor physics and control systems for our 10 MWe full-powered reactor, the Aalo-X, targeting power operations next year. Everything was built at full scale: fuel, moderator, control systems, etc., so we understand system performance at its commercial scope. That also meant tackling four of the most difficult things in nuclear with this criticality milestone: ✅ Ground-up construction of our reactor facility ✅ Manufacturing the reactor in our factory and shipping them by road ✅ Assembling our own fuel assemblies using commercial UO2 ✅ Standing up training, safety, and operational programs to become our own nuclear operator I am proud to say we have accomplished all four goals, along with achieving criticality. The reactor building was constructed in 36 days and construction to criticality was achieved in under 8 months. That’s the fastest nuclear build in the last 80 years. A massive congratulations to the Aalo Atomics team and our partners. Many thanks to Idaho National Laboratory, the DOE-Idaho Operations Office, and the Office of Nuclear Energy for their immense support in enabling this milestone and dedicated to the American nuclear resurgence.
1:06

We’ve gone critical. At 12:20 am on July 4th, Aalo sustained a controlled fission chain reaction for the first time. We have officially surpassed the goal of President Trump’s Executive Order 14301, achieving 4 advanced nuclear reactor criticalities by America’s 250th birthday. This is a zero-power criticality to validate our supply chain, reactor physics and control systems for our 10 MWe full-powered reactor, the Aalo-X, targeting power operations next year. Everything was built at full scale: fuel, moderator, control systems, etc., so we understand system performance at its commercial scope. That also meant tackling four of the most difficult things in nuclear with this criticality milestone: ✅ Ground-up construction of our reactor facility ✅ Manufacturing the reactor in our factory and shipping them by road ✅ Assembling our own fuel assemblies using commercial UO2 ✅ Standing up training, safety, and operational programs to become our own nuclear operator I am proud to say we have accomplished all four goals, along with achieving criticality. The reactor building was constructed in 36 days and construction to criticality was achieved in under 8 months. That’s the fastest nuclear build in the last 80 years. A massive congratulations to the Aalo Atomics team and our partners. Many thanks to Idaho National Laboratory, the DOE-Idaho Operations Office, and the Office of Nuclear Energy for their immense support in enabling this milestone and dedicated to the American nuclear resurgence.

Yasir Arafat

100,174 просмотров • 2 месяцев назад

The Department of Energy has formally approved our Preliminary Documented Safety Analysis (PDSA) for the Mark-0 reactor—our first demonstration reactor, scheduled to go live before July 4, 2026. Mark-0 will validate fueling operations, reactor controls, and core physics. This demonstration is a critical step toward generating electricity from advanced microreactors. Mark-0 uses a full-scale core and the same facility and fuel that will support our next reactor test in 2027. The PDSA defines the preliminary safety basis for the reactor, facility, and planned operations, demonstrating that our approach meets DOE expectations at this stage. This approval validates our safety case and establishes a clear pathway to final acceptance as we prepare for fabrication, assembly, and installation. Mark-0 will be tested at Idaho National Laboratory in Building 793—now the Reactors and Critical Experiments facility—a site with deep nuclear history. Decades ago, this building housed ML-1, the Army’s first mobile nuclear reactor. Today, it supports the next generation of deployable nuclear power. We find the historical relevance fitting and inspiring, as Antares develops a similar-scale microreactor to meet Army operational and installation needs. Since 2024, we’ve worked to establish this facility as an enduring testbed, enabling rapid progress without the need for groundbreaking construction. We’re grateful for our partners at DOE and INL, and for leaders like Congressman Mike Simpson who continue to support the American nuclear renaissance.
1:50

The Department of Energy has formally approved our Preliminary Documented Safety Analysis (PDSA) for the Mark-0 reactor—our first demonstration reactor, scheduled to go live before July 4, 2026. Mark-0 will validate fueling operations, reactor controls, and core physics. This demonstration is a critical step toward generating electricity from advanced microreactors. Mark-0 uses a full-scale core and the same facility and fuel that will support our next reactor test in 2027. The PDSA defines the preliminary safety basis for the reactor, facility, and planned operations, demonstrating that our approach meets DOE expectations at this stage. This approval validates our safety case and establishes a clear pathway to final acceptance as we prepare for fabrication, assembly, and installation. Mark-0 will be tested at Idaho National Laboratory in Building 793—now the Reactors and Critical Experiments facility—a site with deep nuclear history. Decades ago, this building housed ML-1, the Army’s first mobile nuclear reactor. Today, it supports the next generation of deployable nuclear power. We find the historical relevance fitting and inspiring, as Antares develops a similar-scale microreactor to meet Army operational and installation needs. Since 2024, we’ve worked to establish this facility as an enduring testbed, enabling rapid progress without the need for groundbreaking construction. We’re grateful for our partners at DOE and INL, and for leaders like Congressman Mike Simpson who continue to support the American nuclear renaissance.

Antares

16,481 просмотров • 8 месяцев назад

I pulled a control rod out of an active nuclear reactor. It was Matt Loszak's idea — he cofounded Aalo Atomics to build a nuclear reactor safe enough for your backyard, a bold idea... and one worthy of an experiment. Our hypothesis was that we would survive this experiment thanks to Uranium Zirconium Hydride (UZrH), the fuel used by both the test reactor at UT Austin and Aalo's future reactors. Matt said this fuel wouldn't melt down given its strong "negative temperature coefficient of reactivity." If you don't know what that means... neither did I. But it may be the key to unlocking abundant, safe, clean energy. That's why I flew down to the University of Texas to make this video, and ran an experiment on UZrH fuel using a real nuclear reactor. I think you're going to love it. HD version at the link in my bio, and thank you to Fifty Years Fund for helping make this episode happen. 00:00 — What if nuclear power didn't have to be dangerous? 01:09 — Introducing Aalo Atomics 02:20 — UT Austin TRIGA reactor tour & overview 04:26 — Nuclear energy 101 05:27 — The experiment: control rod ejection 06:57 — Experimental results: power, energy, temperature 08:22 — "Negative Temperature Coefficient of Reactivity" 09:41 — Why isn't everyone using this? 10:32 — Aalo's bet: adapting UZrH for power production 11:40 — The future of nuclear power
12:56

I pulled a control rod out of an active nuclear reactor. It was Matt Loszak's idea — he cofounded Aalo Atomics to build a nuclear reactor safe enough for your backyard, a bold idea... and one worthy of an experiment. Our hypothesis was that we would survive this experiment thanks to Uranium Zirconium Hydride (UZrH), the fuel used by both the test reactor at UT Austin and Aalo's future reactors. Matt said this fuel wouldn't melt down given its strong "negative temperature coefficient of reactivity." If you don't know what that means... neither did I. But it may be the key to unlocking abundant, safe, clean energy. That's why I flew down to the University of Texas to make this video, and ran an experiment on UZrH fuel using a real nuclear reactor. I think you're going to love it. HD version at the link in my bio, and thank you to Fifty Years Fund for helping make this episode happen. 00:00 — What if nuclear power didn't have to be dangerous? 01:09 — Introducing Aalo Atomics 02:20 — UT Austin TRIGA reactor tour & overview 04:26 — Nuclear energy 101 05:27 — The experiment: control rod ejection 06:57 — Experimental results: power, energy, temperature 08:22 — "Negative Temperature Coefficient of Reactivity" 09:41 — Why isn't everyone using this? 10:32 — Aalo's bet: adapting UZrH for power production 11:40 — The future of nuclear power

Christian Keil

134,501 просмотров • 1 год назад

An incredible NUCLEAR-POWERED FLIGHT film is newly available online! We just scanned this declassified film showing 30 minutes of detail from the major reactor development program at its peak, between 1956-1958. It presents the program goals and evolution, including how global operating costs were expected to be reduced by eliminating the need to operate foreign air bases around the world. Materials problems required them to reduce requirements from high-altitude/supersonic to low-altitude/subsonic. Ongoing development and progress is shown on the GE direct air cycle (XMA-2) in Idaho and Evandale, and the P&W indirect liquid-metal lithium-7 cooled cycle at CANAL, where they developed niobium-based alloys and technology that could run at the required crazy-high temperatures and withstand lithium. It shows dozens of things I've never seen before, like the 3 ZrH and BeO inserts put into HTRE-2, and talks a bit about the HTRE-3 meltdown. The HTREs can still be seen in the parking lot of the EBR-1 museum on the INL site. They show an in-reactor test loop being fabricated and tested in a large oil-fired heater, destined to be inserted in the ETR in Idaho. Of course, shielding makes an appearance. The Convair Nuclear Test Aircraft is shown, and shields made of Lithium hydride, BeO, tungsten alloys, and depleted uranium are discussed. They also show some work on radiation effects on electrical components, using test reactors. Overall, another incredible find and amazing content given the deceptively simple and boring title. Huge thanks to my friends at Nuclear Talent Scout for funding the scan, and for choosing to prioritize it! As always, the engineers from the 1950s continue to throw the word "advanced reactor" back in our faces today.
30:24

An incredible NUCLEAR-POWERED FLIGHT film is newly available online! We just scanned this declassified film showing 30 minutes of detail from the major reactor development program at its peak, between 1956-1958. It presents the program goals and evolution, including how global operating costs were expected to be reduced by eliminating the need to operate foreign air bases around the world. Materials problems required them to reduce requirements from high-altitude/supersonic to low-altitude/subsonic. Ongoing development and progress is shown on the GE direct air cycle (XMA-2) in Idaho and Evandale, and the P&W indirect liquid-metal lithium-7 cooled cycle at CANAL, where they developed niobium-based alloys and technology that could run at the required crazy-high temperatures and withstand lithium. It shows dozens of things I've never seen before, like the 3 ZrH and BeO inserts put into HTRE-2, and talks a bit about the HTRE-3 meltdown. The HTREs can still be seen in the parking lot of the EBR-1 museum on the INL site. They show an in-reactor test loop being fabricated and tested in a large oil-fired heater, destined to be inserted in the ETR in Idaho. Of course, shielding makes an appearance. The Convair Nuclear Test Aircraft is shown, and shields made of Lithium hydride, BeO, tungsten alloys, and depleted uranium are discussed. They also show some work on radiation effects on electrical components, using test reactors. Overall, another incredible find and amazing content given the deceptively simple and boring title. Huge thanks to my friends at Nuclear Talent Scout for funding the scan, and for choosing to prioritize it! As always, the engineers from the 1950s continue to throw the word "advanced reactor" back in our faces today.

Nick Touran

67,955 просмотров • 1 год назад

Here's my full testimony and transcript from the House Science Committee hearing today. Grateful for the opportunity to share our story. -- Chairman Weber, Ranking Member Ross, and Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to testify. Less than three years ago, Aalo Atomics was two people. Today, we are 200, and we are about to expand into a MILLION square foot manufacturing facility. On the 4th of July, at 12:20 a.m. near Idaho National Lab, we brought our first reactor to initial criticality. We moved from groundbreaking to a sustained nuclear chain reaction in less than eight months. The reactor used a full-scale core, representative of our 10-megawatt-electric commercial design. One year ago, the Department of Energy established a clear authorization pathway, and set deadlines. Aalo brought the design, the team, the capital, and the execution. Together, we demonstrated that America can build and test new reactors quickly. This work matters. Aalo is developing a critically important technology for the US people: sodium reactors, starting in the thermal spectrum, and eventually expanding to the fast spectrum. With this latter technology, we will be able to use nuclear waste as fuel. Few people realize that there is as much energy contained in US nuclear waste as there is in Global known Oil and Gas reserves. Additionally, the volume of nuclear waste would be reduced significantly by using it as fuel. Lastly, by unlocking Thorium and U-238, we can extend the usable lifespan of nuclear fuel on earth from 100 years, to millions of years. Sodium fast breeder technology unlocks all these things, and Aalo will push hard to make this a reality. To do this, we need HALEU, 20% enriched fuel. Fortunately, that supply chain is getting spun up as we speak by several great American companies. In the meantime, we are using off-the-shelf UO2, LEU. Why? Because the nation has a far more pressing challenge than dealing with nuclear waste, or the limitations of oil and gas in the long term. Artificial Intelligence has arisen in the past 3 years, and is now accelerating faster than ever. AI is an incredibly important national security issue. It is imperative that we not lose to China on this massively impactful technology. The best way to power the development of more AI is with nuclear. Advanced nuclear needs no water, uses a small amount of land, is clean, baseload, and we are proving that it can be affordable and fast to deploy. By using off-the-shelf UO2 fuel, Aalo’s reactors will be able to scale rapidly to meet the growing demand of AI. And thanks to the choice of sodium as our coolant, we will have a very compact, mass-manufacturable design. We are excited to continue working hard to bring these incredible technologies to bear for the American people. Based on our experience, I would offer Congress three priorities to help us continue this momentum. First, ensure that the DOE's Reactor Pilot Program remains a durable pathway, connecting the dots from initial criticality through to sustained full-power operations. Second, ensure that the demonstration data generated under DOE oversight can be credited or adopted in subsequent NRC licensing. Third, continue supporting the full-stack domestic nuclear fuel cycle, including advanced fuels such as HALEU, and ultimately recycling and waste burning. America pioneered much of the world’s nuclear technology. We now have an opportunity to lead again. We are grateful to Congress, the Administration, Secretary Wright, Bob Boston, the Department of Energy, Idaho National Lab, and the career public servants who helped make our demonstration possible. Aalo intends to repay that trust by building reactors, factories, creating American jobs, and by helping restore U.S. leadership in nuclear energy. Thank you.
4:53

Here's my full testimony and transcript from the House Science Committee hearing today. Grateful for the opportunity to share our story. -- Chairman Weber, Ranking Member Ross, and Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to testify. Less than three years ago, Aalo Atomics was two people. Today, we are 200, and we are about to expand into a MILLION square foot manufacturing facility. On the 4th of July, at 12:20 a.m. near Idaho National Lab, we brought our first reactor to initial criticality. We moved from groundbreaking to a sustained nuclear chain reaction in less than eight months. The reactor used a full-scale core, representative of our 10-megawatt-electric commercial design. One year ago, the Department of Energy established a clear authorization pathway, and set deadlines. Aalo brought the design, the team, the capital, and the execution. Together, we demonstrated that America can build and test new reactors quickly. This work matters. Aalo is developing a critically important technology for the US people: sodium reactors, starting in the thermal spectrum, and eventually expanding to the fast spectrum. With this latter technology, we will be able to use nuclear waste as fuel. Few people realize that there is as much energy contained in US nuclear waste as there is in Global known Oil and Gas reserves. Additionally, the volume of nuclear waste would be reduced significantly by using it as fuel. Lastly, by unlocking Thorium and U-238, we can extend the usable lifespan of nuclear fuel on earth from 100 years, to millions of years. Sodium fast breeder technology unlocks all these things, and Aalo will push hard to make this a reality. To do this, we need HALEU, 20% enriched fuel. Fortunately, that supply chain is getting spun up as we speak by several great American companies. In the meantime, we are using off-the-shelf UO2, LEU. Why? Because the nation has a far more pressing challenge than dealing with nuclear waste, or the limitations of oil and gas in the long term. Artificial Intelligence has arisen in the past 3 years, and is now accelerating faster than ever. AI is an incredibly important national security issue. It is imperative that we not lose to China on this massively impactful technology. The best way to power the development of more AI is with nuclear. Advanced nuclear needs no water, uses a small amount of land, is clean, baseload, and we are proving that it can be affordable and fast to deploy. By using off-the-shelf UO2 fuel, Aalo’s reactors will be able to scale rapidly to meet the growing demand of AI. And thanks to the choice of sodium as our coolant, we will have a very compact, mass-manufacturable design. We are excited to continue working hard to bring these incredible technologies to bear for the American people. Based on our experience, I would offer Congress three priorities to help us continue this momentum. First, ensure that the DOE's Reactor Pilot Program remains a durable pathway, connecting the dots from initial criticality through to sustained full-power operations. Second, ensure that the demonstration data generated under DOE oversight can be credited or adopted in subsequent NRC licensing. Third, continue supporting the full-stack domestic nuclear fuel cycle, including advanced fuels such as HALEU, and ultimately recycling and waste burning. America pioneered much of the world’s nuclear technology. We now have an opportunity to lead again. We are grateful to Congress, the Administration, Secretary Wright, Bob Boston, the Department of Energy, Idaho National Lab, and the career public servants who helped make our demonstration possible. Aalo intends to repay that trust by building reactors, factories, creating American jobs, and by helping restore U.S. leadership in nuclear energy. Thank you.

Matt Loszak | Aalo Atomics

19,875 просмотров • 1 месяц назад

Here's my conversation with David Kirtley (), a nuclear fusion engineer, all about the physics and engineering of nuclear fission, fusion, and the future of energy. David is leading a team that's working to build the world's first commercial fusion power plant by 2028. This was a super technical conversation and a fascinating one, for both the near-term and the long-term future of human civilization. It's here on X in full, and is up on YouTube, Spotify, and everywhere else. Links in comment. Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction 3:14 - Nuclear fission vs fusion 13:14 - Physics of E=mc^2 18:28 - Is nuclear fusion safe? 23:50 - Chernobyl 30:17 - Geopolitics 32:12 - Extreme scenarios 39:07 - How nuclear fusion works 1:11:59 - Extreme temperatures 1:17:00 - Fusion control and simulation 1:28:54 - Electricity from fusion 2:02:59 - First fusion power plant in 2028 2:09:52 - Energy needs of GPU clusters 2:20:16 - Kardashev scale 2:28:12 - Fermi Paradox
2:36:54

Here's my conversation with David Kirtley (), a nuclear fusion engineer, all about the physics and engineering of nuclear fission, fusion, and the future of energy. David is leading a team that's working to build the world's first commercial fusion power plant by 2028. This was a super technical conversation and a fascinating one, for both the near-term and the long-term future of human civilization. It's here on X in full, and is up on YouTube, Spotify, and everywhere else. Links in comment. Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction 3:14 - Nuclear fission vs fusion 13:14 - Physics of E=mc^2 18:28 - Is nuclear fusion safe? 23:50 - Chernobyl 30:17 - Geopolitics 32:12 - Extreme scenarios 39:07 - How nuclear fusion works 1:11:59 - Extreme temperatures 1:17:00 - Fusion control and simulation 1:28:54 - Electricity from fusion 2:02:59 - First fusion power plant in 2028 2:09:52 - Energy needs of GPU clusters 2:20:16 - Kardashev scale 2:28:12 - Fermi Paradox

Lex Fridman

605,443 просмотров • 10 месяцев назад

At 12:20am on July 4th in the Idaho desert, I watched dozens of engineers hold their breath. Then the neutron counters confirmed it: self-sustaining chain reaction. The Aalo Atomics reactor was critical! Everyone erupted. Cheers, hugs, and a few tears. Three years ago this company was an idea on a whiteboard. We backed them then. This weekend they took a full-scale core critical – the first new sodium-cooled reactor in America in over four decades. Built in under 8 months from groundbreaking. The federal deadline for criticality was July 4th. They made it 20 minutes in. Criticality means the chain reaction is self-sustaining. Every fission triggers exactly one more, no external neutron source needed. It happens at near-zero power. It proves that the core geometry, the fuel, and the control systems all behave exactly as modeled. What makes this one different: the core Aalo took critical is already sized for 30 MW thermal / 10 MW electric once coolant and power conversion are added. That's roughly an order of magnitude larger than the other startup reactors that recently went critical. And this design IS the product: five reactors around one turbine, a 50 MW factory-built pod purpose-designed for AI data centers. No major redesign needed. From here: power ascension to 30 MW thermal, endurance runs, turbine sync, then powering a co-located data center in 2027. In 1951, this same desert made the first electricity from atomic energy. Enough for four lightbulbs. 74 years later, the lightbulbs are GPUs. Second atomic age. Same desert. So grateful I got to see it!
0:44

At 12:20am on July 4th in the Idaho desert, I watched dozens of engineers hold their breath. Then the neutron counters confirmed it: self-sustaining chain reaction. The Aalo Atomics reactor was critical! Everyone erupted. Cheers, hugs, and a few tears. Three years ago this company was an idea on a whiteboard. We backed them then. This weekend they took a full-scale core critical – the first new sodium-cooled reactor in America in over four decades. Built in under 8 months from groundbreaking. The federal deadline for criticality was July 4th. They made it 20 minutes in. Criticality means the chain reaction is self-sustaining. Every fission triggers exactly one more, no external neutron source needed. It happens at near-zero power. It proves that the core geometry, the fuel, and the control systems all behave exactly as modeled. What makes this one different: the core Aalo took critical is already sized for 30 MW thermal / 10 MW electric once coolant and power conversion are added. That's roughly an order of magnitude larger than the other startup reactors that recently went critical. And this design IS the product: five reactors around one turbine, a 50 MW factory-built pod purpose-designed for AI data centers. No major redesign needed. From here: power ascension to 30 MW thermal, endurance runs, turbine sync, then powering a co-located data center in 2027. In 1951, this same desert made the first electricity from atomic energy. Enough for four lightbulbs. 74 years later, the lightbulbs are GPUs. Second atomic age. Same desert. So grateful I got to see it!

Seth Bannon

41,771 просмотров • 2 месяцев назад

One year ago today, President Trump signed the Nuclear Executive Orders. The charge: three reactors critical by America's 250th birthday. It sounded impossible. In 12 months, here's what Aalo Atomics did : → May: EOs signed → June: DOE stands up the Reactor Pilot Program → July: Aalo submits → August: Selected as 1 of 11 → September: Landmark OTA signed → October: PDR complete → November: Ground broken → December: Key suppliers signed → January: FDR complete → February: Building done → March: Reactor manufactured, PDSA approved → April: DSA approved, fuel on INL site → May: Reactor installed, commissioned This week we finished fuel mockup trials. We are headed to criticality by July 4th. It will be tight. But in the next few weeks, multiple American companies, Aalo among them, will get there. To our team at Aalo: you built something the industry said couldn't be built, at a speed it said couldn't be moved. I am in awe of you every day. To our partners at Office of Nuclear Energy | US Department of Energy and DOE-ID: thank you for reforming what slowed us down and protecting what keeps us safe. And to the other teams in the RPP: we know what you've poured into this. We've felt every ounce of it ourselves. You are building real things. You are making history. Congratulations on getting this far, and Godspeed for the final stretch. A year ago this was an executive order. In a few weeks, it will be multiple new reactors going critical on American soil. Happy anniversary. 🇺🇸
0:35

One year ago today, President Trump signed the Nuclear Executive Orders. The charge: three reactors critical by America's 250th birthday. It sounded impossible. In 12 months, here's what Aalo Atomics did : → May: EOs signed → June: DOE stands up the Reactor Pilot Program → July: Aalo submits → August: Selected as 1 of 11 → September: Landmark OTA signed → October: PDR complete → November: Ground broken → December: Key suppliers signed → January: FDR complete → February: Building done → March: Reactor manufactured, PDSA approved → April: DSA approved, fuel on INL site → May: Reactor installed, commissioned This week we finished fuel mockup trials. We are headed to criticality by July 4th. It will be tight. But in the next few weeks, multiple American companies, Aalo among them, will get there. To our team at Aalo: you built something the industry said couldn't be built, at a speed it said couldn't be moved. I am in awe of you every day. To our partners at Office of Nuclear Energy | US Department of Energy and DOE-ID: thank you for reforming what slowed us down and protecting what keeps us safe. And to the other teams in the RPP: we know what you've poured into this. We've felt every ounce of it ourselves. You are building real things. You are making history. Congratulations on getting this far, and Godspeed for the final stretch. A year ago this was an executive order. In a few weeks, it will be multiple new reactors going critical on American soil. Happy anniversary. 🇺🇸

Yasir Arafat

14,502 просмотров • 4 месяцев назад

Hey Canada, we have a spaceport! 🇨🇦🚀 NordSpace's beautiful Atlantic Spaceport Complex (ASX) is officially under construction outside the town of St. Lawrence, in Newfoundland and Labrador! With our first launch of a Canadian commercial rocket from a Canadian commercial spaceport set to take flight in the coming weeks, the future of a true sovereign capability for assured access to space has never looked so promising. We're thrilled to share footage of ASX's SLC-02 publicly for the first time. ASX will support NordSpace’s first commercial launch of our Taiga suborbital rocket with Taiga's launch window opening on August 25th 2025. Taiga is powered by the company’s proprietary 3D-printed Hadfield Mk III liquid rocket engine, and the mission is named "Getting Screeched In". The launch window is subject to road and power interruptions due to the ongoing state of emergency in Newfoundland and Labrador. This launch follows a series of successful tests, including a fully integrated rocket test and a month-long qualification campaign for the Hadfield Mk III engine. Both demonstrated rapid refurbishment capabilities and turnarounds between tests, paving the way for reusable and cost-effective launch operations from Canadian soil. ASX is designed to support our Tundra orbital launch vehicle and partner launch vehicles, facilitating a wide range of orbital and suborbital missions situated at a 46 degree latitude. The initial $10M phase of development for the Atlantic Spaceport Complex will feature two sites: 🚀 SLC-01 will feature two launch pads for orbital missions including NordSpace’s Tundra vehicle and international launch partners from the U.S. and Europe. 🚀 SLC-02 will consist of at least one smaller launch pad for suborbital missions, radar systems for vehicle tracking and space domain awareness, and other ground support equipment to enable all launch operations at the ASX. The ASX will also support NordSpace’s broader portfolio, including our SHARP (Supersonic and Hypersonic Applications Research Platform) program. NordSpace’s CEO and founder, Rahul Goel, said, “The start of construction at the Atlantic Spaceport Complex is a seminal moment for Canada. This is not just about building a launch site; it’s about building a future where Canada leads in space exploration, innovation, and security. The ASX is critical national infrastructure that will unlock assured access to space, ensuring our sovereignty and fostering economic growth for generations. We are committed to making the vision of a true sovereign end-to-end space missions capability a reality, and today’s groundbreaking is a testament to our team’s relentless dedication, speed, and capability.” We thank Government of Newfoundland & Labrador, Transport Canada, National Defence, Canadian Space Agency and NAV CANADA for their support.
1:02

Hey Canada, we have a spaceport! 🇨🇦🚀 NordSpace's beautiful Atlantic Spaceport Complex (ASX) is officially under construction outside the town of St. Lawrence, in Newfoundland and Labrador! With our first launch of a Canadian commercial rocket from a Canadian commercial spaceport set to take flight in the coming weeks, the future of a true sovereign capability for assured access to space has never looked so promising. We're thrilled to share footage of ASX's SLC-02 publicly for the first time. ASX will support NordSpace’s first commercial launch of our Taiga suborbital rocket with Taiga's launch window opening on August 25th 2025. Taiga is powered by the company’s proprietary 3D-printed Hadfield Mk III liquid rocket engine, and the mission is named "Getting Screeched In". The launch window is subject to road and power interruptions due to the ongoing state of emergency in Newfoundland and Labrador. This launch follows a series of successful tests, including a fully integrated rocket test and a month-long qualification campaign for the Hadfield Mk III engine. Both demonstrated rapid refurbishment capabilities and turnarounds between tests, paving the way for reusable and cost-effective launch operations from Canadian soil. ASX is designed to support our Tundra orbital launch vehicle and partner launch vehicles, facilitating a wide range of orbital and suborbital missions situated at a 46 degree latitude. The initial $10M phase of development for the Atlantic Spaceport Complex will feature two sites: 🚀 SLC-01 will feature two launch pads for orbital missions including NordSpace’s Tundra vehicle and international launch partners from the U.S. and Europe. 🚀 SLC-02 will consist of at least one smaller launch pad for suborbital missions, radar systems for vehicle tracking and space domain awareness, and other ground support equipment to enable all launch operations at the ASX. The ASX will also support NordSpace’s broader portfolio, including our SHARP (Supersonic and Hypersonic Applications Research Platform) program. NordSpace’s CEO and founder, Rahul Goel, said, “The start of construction at the Atlantic Spaceport Complex is a seminal moment for Canada. This is not just about building a launch site; it’s about building a future where Canada leads in space exploration, innovation, and security. The ASX is critical national infrastructure that will unlock assured access to space, ensuring our sovereignty and fostering economic growth for generations. We are committed to making the vision of a true sovereign end-to-end space missions capability a reality, and today’s groundbreaking is a testament to our team’s relentless dedication, speed, and capability.” We thank Government of Newfoundland & Labrador, Transport Canada, National Defence, Canadian Space Agency and NAV CANADA for their support.

NordSpace 🇨🇦

65,478 просмотров • 1 год назад

Elon Musk just explained why the SpaceX IPO is an energy story and the energy constraint is why he believes space becomes the only viable path for AI to scale (Save this). The argument he is making is one of the most important and least understood things happening in technology right now. The United States currently consumes roughly 500 gigawatts of electricity on average. To double that capacity which is what continued AI expansion on the current terrestrial trajectory would eventually require would mean building as many power plants as currently exist in the entire country. He is not arguing that this is technically impossible, just that communities are not willing to accept it, that permitting timelines make it unrealistic, and that the hard ceiling on Earth based power generation means the expansion of AI compute will eventually hit a wall that no amount of capital can overcome on the ground. His observation is that in space, that wall does not exist. A solar panel in orbit produces roughly five times more power than the same panel on Earth, operates in continuous sunlight uninterrupted by weather or nighttime, and benefits from the vacuum of space as a completely passive cooling system meaning the two largest operating costs of any terrestrial data center, energy and cooling, are effectively eliminated. He then said that you could theoretically increase harnessed energy by a factor of one million and still be using less than a millionth of the sun's total energy output. This is the underlying physics of why SpaceX filed with the FCC to launch up to one million solar powered AI satellites, and why they described that constellation in their own filing as a first step toward becoming a Kardashev Type II civilization capable of harnessing the full power of the sun. To understand what makes this credible rather than visionary, you need to understand what SpaceX already controls that no other company on earth possesses. Starship, once operating at full cadence, can deliver 100 to 150 tons of payload to orbit per launch, at a target cost per kilogram that is an order of magnitude lower than any existing vehicle. Musk's stated ambition is to scale Starship to 10,000 to 30,000 launches per year, a frequency that would allow the deployment of orbital compute infrastructure at a pace that is currently unimaginable with any existing rocket. He told xAI staff earlier this year that achieving space-based AI at scale will eventually require manufacturing facilities on the moon, building solar panels and heat dissipation structures from lunar silicon and aluminum, and launching them into orbit from there rather than from Earth's surface because the moon's lower gravity makes the economics of launch dramatically more favorable. SpaceX's S-1 filing explicitly states that its launch capabilities could enable massive AI compute satellite constellations with the potential for millions of satellites for orbital data centers, with the first launch potentially occurring as soon as 2028. Google and Alphabet are already in advanced talks with SpaceX about deploying space-based data centers. Starcloud, a startup running Nvidia H100 GPUs in orbit, has already validated that high-performance AI inference workloads can operate in space, with plans to scale to five gigawatts of orbital compute power by 2035. This is why Musk believes the cost crossover happens in two to three years because SpaceX's launch cost trajectory intersects with the accelerating energy constraint on the ground in a way that makes space genuinely cheaper, faster, and less regulated at exactly the moment AI demand is hitting its hardest physical limits.
1:01

Elon Musk just explained why the SpaceX IPO is an energy story and the energy constraint is why he believes space becomes the only viable path for AI to scale (Save this). The argument he is making is one of the most important and least understood things happening in technology right now. The United States currently consumes roughly 500 gigawatts of electricity on average. To double that capacity which is what continued AI expansion on the current terrestrial trajectory would eventually require would mean building as many power plants as currently exist in the entire country. He is not arguing that this is technically impossible, just that communities are not willing to accept it, that permitting timelines make it unrealistic, and that the hard ceiling on Earth based power generation means the expansion of AI compute will eventually hit a wall that no amount of capital can overcome on the ground. His observation is that in space, that wall does not exist. A solar panel in orbit produces roughly five times more power than the same panel on Earth, operates in continuous sunlight uninterrupted by weather or nighttime, and benefits from the vacuum of space as a completely passive cooling system meaning the two largest operating costs of any terrestrial data center, energy and cooling, are effectively eliminated. He then said that you could theoretically increase harnessed energy by a factor of one million and still be using less than a millionth of the sun's total energy output. This is the underlying physics of why SpaceX filed with the FCC to launch up to one million solar powered AI satellites, and why they described that constellation in their own filing as a first step toward becoming a Kardashev Type II civilization capable of harnessing the full power of the sun. To understand what makes this credible rather than visionary, you need to understand what SpaceX already controls that no other company on earth possesses. Starship, once operating at full cadence, can deliver 100 to 150 tons of payload to orbit per launch, at a target cost per kilogram that is an order of magnitude lower than any existing vehicle. Musk's stated ambition is to scale Starship to 10,000 to 30,000 launches per year, a frequency that would allow the deployment of orbital compute infrastructure at a pace that is currently unimaginable with any existing rocket. He told xAI staff earlier this year that achieving space-based AI at scale will eventually require manufacturing facilities on the moon, building solar panels and heat dissipation structures from lunar silicon and aluminum, and launching them into orbit from there rather than from Earth's surface because the moon's lower gravity makes the economics of launch dramatically more favorable. SpaceX's S-1 filing explicitly states that its launch capabilities could enable massive AI compute satellite constellations with the potential for millions of satellites for orbital data centers, with the first launch potentially occurring as soon as 2028. Google and Alphabet are already in advanced talks with SpaceX about deploying space-based data centers. Starcloud, a startup running Nvidia H100 GPUs in orbit, has already validated that high-performance AI inference workloads can operate in space, with plans to scale to five gigawatts of orbital compute power by 2035. This is why Musk believes the cost crossover happens in two to three years because SpaceX's launch cost trajectory intersects with the accelerating energy constraint on the ground in a way that makes space genuinely cheaper, faster, and less regulated at exactly the moment AI demand is hitting its hardest physical limits.

Milk Road AI

12,738 просмотров • 3 месяцев назад

‼️ This is a very dangerous situation. Nothing like this has ever happened before. This nuclear power plant is the largest in Europe. Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which has been under Russian occupation since March 2022, has been disconnected from the power supply for more than a week. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi stressed that this situation is unstable in terms of nuclear safety, since "in case of a complete blackout with no off-site power and no EDGs operating, the nuclear fuel could melt if power could not be restored in time." According to Ukraine’s state nuclear operator Energoatom, this is already the tenth blackout at the occupied Zaporizhzhia plant. At present, the plant is running on diesel generators. "Russia is doing absolutely nothing to fix the situation or to allow Ukrainian specialists to restore external power to the plant, which under normal conditions should operate without interruption. Russia is deliberately creating the threat of radiation incidents, taking advantage, unfortunately, of the weak position of the IAEA and its Director General Rafael Grossi, as well as the distraction of global attention. To resolve the situation, weak and half-measures will not work. What is needed is strong action and corresponding pressure on Russia to protect lives," President Zelenskyy said. Moreover, yesterday’s targeted Russian strike on one of Ukraine’s power substations in Slavutych caused a blackout lasting more than three hours at facilities of the former Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. "This includes, in particular, the New Safe Confinement that protects the environment from the remains of the plant’s fourth reactor after the 1986 explosion, as well as radioactive debris and dust. It also includes the spent nuclear fuel storage facility, which holds 80% of all the spent fuel accumulated during the plant’s operation - a total of more than 3,250 tons of spent fuel assemblies. The Russians could not have been unaware that a strike on facilities in Slavutych would have such consequences for Chernobyl. This was a deliberate attack, in which Russia used more than 20 drones. Some of them were shot down, but the strike was deliberately organized in a wave of drones to make defending the site more difficult," the President of Ukraine said.
0:55

‼️ This is a very dangerous situation. Nothing like this has ever happened before. This nuclear power plant is the largest in Europe. Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which has been under Russian occupation since March 2022, has been disconnected from the power supply for more than a week. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi stressed that this situation is unstable in terms of nuclear safety, since "in case of a complete blackout with no off-site power and no EDGs operating, the nuclear fuel could melt if power could not be restored in time." According to Ukraine’s state nuclear operator Energoatom, this is already the tenth blackout at the occupied Zaporizhzhia plant. At present, the plant is running on diesel generators. "Russia is doing absolutely nothing to fix the situation or to allow Ukrainian specialists to restore external power to the plant, which under normal conditions should operate without interruption. Russia is deliberately creating the threat of radiation incidents, taking advantage, unfortunately, of the weak position of the IAEA and its Director General Rafael Grossi, as well as the distraction of global attention. To resolve the situation, weak and half-measures will not work. What is needed is strong action and corresponding pressure on Russia to protect lives," President Zelenskyy said. Moreover, yesterday’s targeted Russian strike on one of Ukraine’s power substations in Slavutych caused a blackout lasting more than three hours at facilities of the former Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. "This includes, in particular, the New Safe Confinement that protects the environment from the remains of the plant’s fourth reactor after the 1986 explosion, as well as radioactive debris and dust. It also includes the spent nuclear fuel storage facility, which holds 80% of all the spent fuel accumulated during the plant’s operation - a total of more than 3,250 tons of spent fuel assemblies. The Russians could not have been unaware that a strike on facilities in Slavutych would have such consequences for Chernobyl. This was a deliberate attack, in which Russia used more than 20 drones. Some of them were shot down, but the strike was deliberately organized in a wave of drones to make defending the site more difficult," the President of Ukraine said.

Anton Gerashchenko

256,752 просмотров • 1 год назад

Very excited to announce that at 12:20am on the 4th of July, Aalo achieved criticality on our first full-scale reactor. We cut it close, but we pulled it off!! Working towards this goal with such an incredible group of humans has been the most fulfilling period of my life. This moment has been three years in the making. Last year, Executive Order 14301 called for at least three new reactors to go critical before July 4th, 2026. As of late last Friday night, that goal has been surpassed! When the EO was announced, we immediately sat down to figure out what the most ambitious scope would be, while still being potentially achievable by July 4th. Some of the team proposed doing simplified designs with smaller fuel loads, or building in existing facilities. One thing was clear: We wouldn't have time to integrate a full-scale sodium heat-removal loop to bring the reactor to its full 30 MWt. So here’s where we landed: ➡️ We purchased the entire commercial-scale fuel load. This is enough fuel to operate at 30 MWt / 10 MWe for 3 years before refueling. To my knowledge, it’s the largest fuel load that’s been taken critical in the DOE pilot program, by far. ➡️ We built a full-scale reactor vessel in our factory, and loaded in our commercial graphite layout. All the dimensions, vessel thickness, and manufacturing techniques are essentially the same as we will use for the imminent commercial version. There will be a few minor tweaks for sodium flow and full-power, but nothing major. ➡️ We built an entirely new reactor facility at the Idaho National Lab. Building a building is easy. Building a new reactor facility comes with a mountain of paperwork, policies, operation and training procedures, security, instrumentation and control, and more. Zero-power criticality might seem like a small step, but I can tell you, going through the exercise of building a reactor and taking it to criticality has been extremely valuable. The learnings on regulatory, ops, manufacturing, supply chain, QA, economics, engineering, and design will accelerate our path through to the final iteration at full-power. America is blessed to have a recent Cambrian explosion of startups in nuclear, all going after different markets, technologies, and strategies. I’m excited that sodium, gas, salt, and new PWRs are all getting pushed forward once again. The best outcome for humanity is to have all these advance in parallel, as quickly as possible, while maintaining safety. Thanks again to our amazing team, DOE, INL, BEA, and everyone else who helped us get to where we are today. This could not have happened anywhere else. Happy birthday, America!! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 There has never been a better time for nuclear energy. The Second Atomic Age has begun, and this one will be here to stay.
1:47

Very excited to announce that at 12:20am on the 4th of July, Aalo achieved criticality on our first full-scale reactor. We cut it close, but we pulled it off!! Working towards this goal with such an incredible group of humans has been the most fulfilling period of my life. This moment has been three years in the making. Last year, Executive Order 14301 called for at least three new reactors to go critical before July 4th, 2026. As of late last Friday night, that goal has been surpassed! When the EO was announced, we immediately sat down to figure out what the most ambitious scope would be, while still being potentially achievable by July 4th. Some of the team proposed doing simplified designs with smaller fuel loads, or building in existing facilities. One thing was clear: We wouldn't have time to integrate a full-scale sodium heat-removal loop to bring the reactor to its full 30 MWt. So here’s where we landed: ➡️ We purchased the entire commercial-scale fuel load. This is enough fuel to operate at 30 MWt / 10 MWe for 3 years before refueling. To my knowledge, it’s the largest fuel load that’s been taken critical in the DOE pilot program, by far. ➡️ We built a full-scale reactor vessel in our factory, and loaded in our commercial graphite layout. All the dimensions, vessel thickness, and manufacturing techniques are essentially the same as we will use for the imminent commercial version. There will be a few minor tweaks for sodium flow and full-power, but nothing major. ➡️ We built an entirely new reactor facility at the Idaho National Lab. Building a building is easy. Building a new reactor facility comes with a mountain of paperwork, policies, operation and training procedures, security, instrumentation and control, and more. Zero-power criticality might seem like a small step, but I can tell you, going through the exercise of building a reactor and taking it to criticality has been extremely valuable. The learnings on regulatory, ops, manufacturing, supply chain, QA, economics, engineering, and design will accelerate our path through to the final iteration at full-power. America is blessed to have a recent Cambrian explosion of startups in nuclear, all going after different markets, technologies, and strategies. I’m excited that sodium, gas, salt, and new PWRs are all getting pushed forward once again. The best outcome for humanity is to have all these advance in parallel, as quickly as possible, while maintaining safety. Thanks again to our amazing team, DOE, INL, BEA, and everyone else who helped us get to where we are today. This could not have happened anywhere else. Happy birthday, America!! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 There has never been a better time for nuclear energy. The Second Atomic Age has begun, and this one will be here to stay.

Matt Loszak | Aalo Atomics

480,101 просмотров • 2 месяцев назад

We have been told of data centers in space. But what of data centers in the ocean? .Panthalassa has been operating in secret for ten years, building very large machines that can travel to the deep ocean and turn waves into energy. It's putting GPUs and TPUs right inside these things. Garth Sheldon-Coulson talks about how all this happened for the first time here. The Core Memory podcast is available on all major platforms, and its big ideas are made possible by Brex and @e1ventures. Come get it. Timestamps 0:00 Intro 2:13 The Lollipop-Shaped Machine 6:01 Where Are the Best Waves? 13:08 Tens of Terawatts 22:26 The power of Chick-fil-A 25:44 It drives itself 34:14 AI Data Center 200 Miles At Sea 53:25 Why China Can't Do This 1:02:31 The Factory That Will Launch a Fleet
1:19:14

We have been told of data centers in space. But what of data centers in the ocean? .Panthalassa has been operating in secret for ten years, building very large machines that can travel to the deep ocean and turn waves into energy. It's putting GPUs and TPUs right inside these things. Garth Sheldon-Coulson talks about how all this happened for the first time here. The Core Memory podcast is available on all major platforms, and its big ideas are made possible by Brex and @e1ventures. Come get it. Timestamps 0:00 Intro 2:13 The Lollipop-Shaped Machine 6:01 Where Are the Best Waves? 13:08 Tens of Terawatts 22:26 The power of Chick-fil-A 25:44 It drives itself 34:14 AI Data Center 200 Miles At Sea 53:25 Why China Can't Do This 1:02:31 The Factory That Will Launch a Fleet

Ashlee Vance

15,294 просмотров • 5 месяцев назад

🚨Thorium Reactors: China Just Did What Everyone Else Talked About for 50 Years China has just crossed a line the rest of the world never managed to step over. Their experimental thorium molten salt reactor has successfully converted thorium into uranium-233 and sustained nuclear fission inside a working system. This matters more than most people realize. Thorium has always been the nuclear fuel that sounded great in theory and died in practice. It is more abundant than uranium. It produces less long lived waste. It is also harder to weaponize. The physics have been understood since the Cold War, but the problem was always execution, materials, corrosion and chemistry. Control. China solved enough of those problems to make the fuel cycle work. The reactor in question is small, producing only two megawatts so it's not powering cities or feeding the grid, but that is not the point. This was a proof of capability, not a commercial rollout. They demonstrated something no other country has publicly demonstrated. Breeding uranium-233 from thorium inside a molten salt reactor and using it to sustain fission. That single step unlocks the entire thorium fuel cycle. They did it with a reactor that operates at atmospheric pressure, uses liquid fuel, and can be designed to shut itself down passively if things go wrong. No danger of high pressure steam explosions, no fuel rods to melt and no water cooling dependency. China has large domestic thorium reserves. Uranium supply chains are global, fragile, and politically exposed. Thorium changes that equation. It also changes waste profiles and long term fuel availability. In theory, it allows centuries of base load power from material that was previously treated as a curiosity. The United States, Europe, and others studied molten salt reactors decades ago and walked away. Not because they were impossible, but because conventional uranium reactors were already entrenched, regulated, and profitable. Thorium was disruptive before disruption was fashionable. China stayed with it and built materials science programs around it. They accepted slow progress. They ran experiments without promising headlines, and now they are the only country that can point to an operating thorium molten salt reactor that actually does what the textbooks said it should. This does not mean commercial thorium power is around the corner. Scaling this is hard and so is licensing it. Operating molten salt systems for decades is hard. But the breakthrough is real. If the technology that could redefine nuclear safety, fuel independence, and long term energy stability just matured outside the West, what else are we assuming is impossible simply because we stopped trying? #Thorium #NuclearEnergy #China #EnergySecurity #MoltenSaltReactor #CleanEnergy #AdvancedNuclear Video clip source:
1:11

🚨Thorium Reactors: China Just Did What Everyone Else Talked About for 50 Years China has just crossed a line the rest of the world never managed to step over. Their experimental thorium molten salt reactor has successfully converted thorium into uranium-233 and sustained nuclear fission inside a working system. This matters more than most people realize. Thorium has always been the nuclear fuel that sounded great in theory and died in practice. It is more abundant than uranium. It produces less long lived waste. It is also harder to weaponize. The physics have been understood since the Cold War, but the problem was always execution, materials, corrosion and chemistry. Control. China solved enough of those problems to make the fuel cycle work. The reactor in question is small, producing only two megawatts so it's not powering cities or feeding the grid, but that is not the point. This was a proof of capability, not a commercial rollout. They demonstrated something no other country has publicly demonstrated. Breeding uranium-233 from thorium inside a molten salt reactor and using it to sustain fission. That single step unlocks the entire thorium fuel cycle. They did it with a reactor that operates at atmospheric pressure, uses liquid fuel, and can be designed to shut itself down passively if things go wrong. No danger of high pressure steam explosions, no fuel rods to melt and no water cooling dependency. China has large domestic thorium reserves. Uranium supply chains are global, fragile, and politically exposed. Thorium changes that equation. It also changes waste profiles and long term fuel availability. In theory, it allows centuries of base load power from material that was previously treated as a curiosity. The United States, Europe, and others studied molten salt reactors decades ago and walked away. Not because they were impossible, but because conventional uranium reactors were already entrenched, regulated, and profitable. Thorium was disruptive before disruption was fashionable. China stayed with it and built materials science programs around it. They accepted slow progress. They ran experiments without promising headlines, and now they are the only country that can point to an operating thorium molten salt reactor that actually does what the textbooks said it should. This does not mean commercial thorium power is around the corner. Scaling this is hard and so is licensing it. Operating molten salt systems for decades is hard. But the breakthrough is real. If the technology that could redefine nuclear safety, fuel independence, and long term energy stability just matured outside the West, what else are we assuming is impossible simply because we stopped trying? #Thorium #NuclearEnergy #China #EnergySecurity #MoltenSaltReactor #CleanEnergy #AdvancedNuclear Video clip source:

Skywatch Signal

148,292 просмотров • 9 месяцев назад

#WATCH | Surat, Gujarat: On India advancing civil nuclear programme, Senior Scientist, Dept. of Atomic Energy, Dr Neelam Goyal says, "... India’s economy rests on three pillars: agriculture, industry, and services. The backbone of all three is electricity. At present, around 70% of India’s electricity comes from coal, with much of the quality coal imported from Indonesia. This costs the country roughly Rs 12,000 crore annually. To achieve self-reliance, India must develop domestic energy sources. India possesses vast reserves of thorium—around 85% of the world’s supply—enough to generate 5,000 units of electricity per person per year for 500 years, compared to the current 1,000 units. Yet nuclear energy faces public resistance due to misconceptions and fear. As a result, nuclear projects are often delayed for a decade or more. I completed my PhD in 2008 at Rajasthan University, studying the impact of nuclear power plants on regional economies, welfare, and health. In 2009, I undertook postdoctoral training with India’s Department of Atomic Energy in Mumbai... Since 2011, after the Fukushima disaster, I have worked to raise awareness and reduce opposition to nuclear energy across states, including Haryana, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, and Gujarat. Currently, India operates 23 reactors using uranium, imported from countries such as Australia and Mongolia. Uranium is a fissile element, and its by-product, plutonium, can also be used as fuel. India’s fast breeder reactor programme now utilises plutonium, and when combined with thorium, it can be converted into uranium-233, a powerful fissile material. This opens the door to smaller reactors and long-term energy independence, potentially supplying India with abundant electricity for years."
4:53

#WATCH | Surat, Gujarat: On India advancing civil nuclear programme, Senior Scientist, Dept. of Atomic Energy, Dr Neelam Goyal says, "... India’s economy rests on three pillars: agriculture, industry, and services. The backbone of all three is electricity. At present, around 70% of India’s electricity comes from coal, with much of the quality coal imported from Indonesia. This costs the country roughly Rs 12,000 crore annually. To achieve self-reliance, India must develop domestic energy sources. India possesses vast reserves of thorium—around 85% of the world’s supply—enough to generate 5,000 units of electricity per person per year for 500 years, compared to the current 1,000 units. Yet nuclear energy faces public resistance due to misconceptions and fear. As a result, nuclear projects are often delayed for a decade or more. I completed my PhD in 2008 at Rajasthan University, studying the impact of nuclear power plants on regional economies, welfare, and health. In 2009, I undertook postdoctoral training with India’s Department of Atomic Energy in Mumbai... Since 2011, after the Fukushima disaster, I have worked to raise awareness and reduce opposition to nuclear energy across states, including Haryana, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, and Gujarat. Currently, India operates 23 reactors using uranium, imported from countries such as Australia and Mongolia. Uranium is a fissile element, and its by-product, plutonium, can also be used as fuel. India’s fast breeder reactor programme now utilises plutonium, and when combined with thorium, it can be converted into uranium-233, a powerful fissile material. This opens the door to smaller reactors and long-term energy independence, potentially supplying India with abundant electricity for years."

ANI

19,136 просмотров • 5 месяцев назад