Moltex Issued Canadian Patent for Molten Salt Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing,.

[NNadir]

Some brief comments below.

[link:Moltex recycling process granted Canadian patent|Moltex recycling process granted Canadian patent]

Subtitle:

The patent covers Moltex Energy Canada's Waste To Stable Salt (WATSS) process for converting any uranium oxide fuel into molten salt reactor fuel, part of a suite of technologies being developed by the company alongside its Stable Salt Reactor - Wasteburner (SSR-W) fast reactor and GridReserve thermal energy storage system.

Brief excerpt:

The process was invented by Ian Scott, Moltex's co-founder and chief scientist. It involves the conversion of used nuclear fuel into products and by-products:.. transuranics, along with some uranium and fission products, are extracted into a salt which forms the fuel for the SSR-W reactor and some other reactors; uranium - a major by-product - which is considered as intermediate to low level radioactive waste, but can also have other uses; and fission products, a byproduct which can be disposed directly or used as a heat source for remote applications.

Unlike conventional reprocessing routes, the WATSS process is unable to produce pure plutonium which could be misused for "nefarious purposes", the company said. As well as removing this proliferation risk, this also makes it simpler and less expensive than conventional reprocessing, it added...

I haven't studied this company in any detail, but if memory serves me well, they're a chloride salt company. I generally have reservations about chloride salts.

All of my main own ideas around fuel reprocessing are connected with molten salt/pyroprocessing/electrorefining/distillation, which may or may not be significantly different than their approach. I favor technologies that can produce chemically pure plutonium, for a number of reasons on which I won't expand here, but the most beautiful part of what Moltex is promoting is to put the fission products to use, which in fact, have many uses beyond heat sources for remote applications.

All of the components of used nuclear fuel, properly regarded, are potentially extremely valuable.

These kind of innovations, if not impeded by mysticism, fear, ignorance, and reactionary thinking, are a path to building a sustainable world. Whether we do that, build a sustainable world, is an open question, frankly not looking good, but this kind of tech makes it possible to consider a sustainable world as at least being possible.

Have a nice day tomorrow.

[eppur_se_muova]

1. This link ?

https://www.nucnet.org/news/canada-grants-patent-for-innovative-spent-nuclear-fuel-recycling-process-1-5-2024

Wish there were more technical details.