BEIJING — After 15 years of continuous research, China has achieved a significant milestone in the energy sector. Chinese scientists have successfully developed a safe nuclear energy source in the form of a thorium-based liquid-fuel salt reactor, leaving the U.S. behind in the nuclear energy race.
The achievement was carried out by the Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in the Gobi Desert, where a two-megawatt liquid-fuel salt reactor was successfully operated. This breakthrough demonstrates that the country’s vast thorium reserves can be effectively harnessed for energy production.
China began this project in 2011, while the U.S. had experimented with thorium-based reactors as early as the 1960s. However, the U.S. did not continue the research. According to Chinese scientist Xu Hongji, the abandoned U.S. research was waiting for a capable successor — and China has now taken that mantle. Chinese researchers not only understood the previous U.S. studies but also significantly improved upon them, eventually translating the technology into a practical application.
Thorium vs Uranium:
Experts highlight several advantages of thorium over conventional uranium fuel. While uranium is highly radioactive, expensive, and difficult to extract, thorium is abundant, naturally available, less radioactive, and generates less nuclear waste.According to the World Nuclear Association, thorium-based reactors could become a safe and clean energy source for the future, potentially transforming global nuclear power generation.
