Turning point in China: successful conversion of thorium into uranium.

Xinhua, the Chinese news agency, announced that Chinese scientists have successfully achieved the first conversion of thorium fuel into uranium in an experimental thorium molten salt reactor (Thorium Molten Salt Reactor – TMSR), thereby confirming the technical feasibility of using thorium as fuel in advanced nuclear systems. This achievement, confirmed by the Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (SINAP), marks a significant milestone in the global development of nuclear energy

Experimental TMSR, built in collaboration with other Chinese scientific institutions, is currently the only operating molten salt reactor in the world that uses thorium as fuel. The results of the experiment provide crucial technical verification and represent a viable option for the mass exploitation of China's abundant thorium reserves.

Molten-salt reactors belong to the fourth generation of advanced nuclear energy systems. They use high-temperature molten salt as the coolant instead of water, which gives them a number of exceptional characteristics, such as inherent safety because they operate at atmospheric pressure; they do not require large amounts of water; they feature high outlet temperatures. Because of these characteristics, molten-salt reactors around the world are considered the most suitable for using thorium.

Besides, thorium occurs in nature in significantly larger quantities than uranium; the only problem is that by itself it is not a fissile element, so it must first be “produced” into the fissile isotope uranium-233 (U-233) which is fissile. And that, in turn, makes reactors that use thorium inherently less efficient than reactors that use uranium.

But China has thorium deposits, so investing in the thorium fuel cycle is very likely to pay off. Therefore the technological path of development of the TMSR is closely linked to China's goal of establishing a complementary, low-carbon, integrated energy system.

Furthermore, molten-salt reactors can be efficiently linked to industries such as solar energy, wind energy, molten-salt energy storage, high-temperature hydrogen production, as well as chemical and petrochemical industries. This enables nuclear energy to function as a reliable baseload power that flexibly supports fluctuating renewable energy sources.

In addition, SINAP launched the TMSR program in 2011, and since then has made significant progress—from the laboratory research phase to engineering verification of key materials and equipment. China has developed domestic key equipment and established an independent supply chain, thereby practically completing the full TMSR technological and industrial infrastructure.

SINAP has announced that it will now collaborate with leading energy companies to further strengthen the industrial base and supply chain for the TMSR. The ultimate goal is to construct a 100-megawatt demonstration project and its deployment by 2035, thereby bringing this technology into the commercial sphere.

Let us add that another country is working on developing the thorium fuel cycle. It is India, which, like China, has no uranium deposits but possesses large thorium deposits, so similar projects can also be expected in India. And we emphasize that a successful conversion of thorium into uranium represents an extremely important step, not only for China's energy security, but also for the global search for sustainable, safe and abundant sources of nuclear fuel.