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  • Scarmoge posted an update 6 years, 7 months ago

    What were the Germans doing with all that Thorium? Toothpaste? …. Hmmmmmm. I could be wrong but this doesn’t sound like it’s describing a process for making toothpaste. Maybe a hint can be found here ….
    ________________________________________________________________________________________________
    Liquid Fuel Nuclear Reactors
    Robert Hargraves and Ralph Moir

    Today’s familiar pressurized water nuclear reactors use solid fuel — pellets of uranium dioxide in zirconium fuel rods bundled into fuel assemblies. These assemblies are placed within the reactor vessel under water at 160 atmospheres pressure and a temperature of 330°C. This hot water transfers heat from the fissioning fuel to a steam turbine that spins a generator to make electricity. Alvin Weinberg invented the pressurized water reactor (PWR) in 1946 and such units are now used in over 100 commercial power-producing reactors in the US as well as in naval vessels.

    Weinberg also pursued research on liquid fuel-reactors, which offer a number of advantages over their solid-fueled counterparts. In this article we review some of the history, potential advantages, potential drawbacks, and current research and development status of liquid-fueled reactors. Our particular emphasis is on the Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor (LFTR).
    …..

    Full article at:
    https://www.aps.org/units/fps/newsletters/201101/hargraves.cfm