Science & Tech · Science & Environment · 3 hrs ago
US-backed molten chloride reactor experiment targets testing by 2027
The US-backed Molten Chloride Reactor Experiment is moving toward testing under a new round of cost-shared funding approved by the Department of Energy.
Southern Company, Idaho National Laboratory and CORE POWER are working together on the project.
It is designed to test a reactor that uses fuel dissolved in liquid chloride salt and fast-moving neutrons, unlike the solid fuel used in many conventional reactors.
The experiment aims to sustain a controlled nuclear chain reaction by 2027, a milestone known as criticality.
Idaho National Laboratory researchers will measure how the reactor behaves, providing real operating data to improve models that currently predict its performance.
Those measurements could reduce uncertainty for reactor designers and regulators, though future projects will still need their own safety evidence.
The immediate goal is research, not commercial operation, but results could inform future uses such as industrial energy, medical isotope production and maritime power.
The U.S. Department of Energy has approved additional cost-shared funding for the Molten Chloride Reactor Experiment.
The experiment aims to test a fast-spectrum molten chloride reactor under sustained fission conditions.
Its developers target achieving criticality as early as 2027.
Southern Company, Idaho National Laboratory and CORE POWER are collaborating on the project.
The operating data could help engineers refine reactor designs and reduce uncertainty for future developers and regulators.
- Who
- Southern Company, Idaho National Laboratory and CORE POWER are collaborating on the experiment, with U.S. Department of Energy backing.
- What
- The Molten Chloride Reactor Experiment aims to test a fast-spectrum molten chloride reactor under sustained fission conditions.
- When
- Criticality is targeted as early as 2027.
- Where
- Not stated.
- Why
- To gather operating data that could help engineers refine reactor designs and reduce uncertainty.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
CORE POWER committed to building MCRE.
The experiment is targeted to achieve criticality.
- Project
- Molten Chloride Reactor Experiment (MCRE)
- Funding
- Additional cost-shared funding approved by the U.S. Department of Energy
- Collaborators
- Southern Company, Idaho National Laboratory and CORE POWER
- Target
- Criticality as early as 2027
What people are saying
Enhancing those models with real-world operating evidence will reduce uncertainty for future reactor designers and regulators