Safe Source of Power

China is moving ahead with development of an experimental reactor that would be the first of its kind in the world, but could prove key to the pursuit of clean and safe nuclear power. According to local news reports, the Chinese government intends to finish building a prototype molten salt nuclear reactor in the desert city of Wuwei in the coming months, with plans to establish a number of larger-scale plants in similar settings thereafter.

With an ability to generate power while producing very minimal carbon emissions, nuclear reactors have a clear upside when it comes to the sustainable generation of energy. But there are very valid reasons the technology hasn't been widely adopted across the world, many of which stem from the reliance on uranium and plutonium for fuel.

Not only is uranium expensive and rare, it can also be used to build nuclear weapons. These reactors also generate radioactive waste that needs to be safely stored, and carry the very real risk of catastrophic meltdown, as seen at Fukushima in 2011.

Since the 1940s, scientists have been exploring an alternative known as molten salt reactors, which promise a far safer way forward. In place of uranium and plutonium, these reactors use the widely abundant, silvery metal thorium, which cannot be easily used to make bombs. Furthermore, these reactors would operate in a way that doesn't pose the same dangers as conventional ones.  READ MORE