More than two tons of historic molten-salt reactor material from Oak Ridge National Laboratory has reached Texas for use in a new research reactor.

ORNL transferred lithium-fluoride and beryllium-fluoride salt, known as FLiBe, from its 1960s Molten Salt Reactor Experiment inventory to Natura Resources. The salt contains lithium-7 enriched to 99.99%, which helps limit neutron absorption and tritium production.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s nuclear office previously showed ORNL hardware used to study gas behavior inside molten-salt reactor systems.

Abilene Christian University said the shipment arrived for its NEXT Lab and Natura’s MSR-1 project. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission lists the planned reactor at up to 1 MW thermal; it is a research reactor and is not designed to generate electricity.

ORNL demonstrates remote maintenance concepts developed during the original molten-salt reactor program.

If the project reaches operation as planned, it would be the first U.S. salt-fueled reactor since Oak Ridge’s original experiment shut down in 1969. The project connects directly to BitcoinVersus.Tech’s coverage of small modular reactors, the eVinci microreactor, and deployable nuclear batteries.

BitcoinVersus.Tech Editor’s Note:
We volunteer daily to ensure the credibility of the information on this platform is Verifiably True. If you would like to support to help further secure the integrity of our research initiatives, please donate using the QR code provided

For best QR-code scanning results, please scan this donation code from a desktop or larger screen. Mobile screens may prevent camera recognition.