00X/004 future nuclear CATOBAR carrier thread

[hkky]

New molten salt reactors are no longer thinking of using sodium and candidates do not react explosively with water, but still solidifes at pretty high temperature and so you'd need a secondary method to heatup the salt after a shutdown. This comment is not meant to support or refute thorium fueled molten salt reactor.

Not sure if schedule could be deduced from commercial research, it is usually the other way around since the militaries seem to have "unlimited" budge in these types of research.

 

[charles18]

It is way too early. We have zero information on the naval nuclear reactor development program being finished.
Type 003 is also still not in service and no aircraft launches have been made with it with the new aircraft.
It is probably too early to make a proper evaluation of how to proceed for the Type 004.

Is it my imagination, China does not seem to be in a big hurry to build the Type 004?
If China wanted too they could easily have laid the keel for the next ship in the dry dock by now, but there is nothing.

I am skeptical on the use of thorium molten salt reactors on naval ships.

Same here.

 

[nemo]

New molten salt reactors are no longer thinking of using sodium and candidates do not react explosively with water, but still solidifes at pretty high temperature and so you'd need a secondary method to heatup the salt after a shutdown. This comment is not meant to support or refute thorium fueled molten salt reactor.

Not sure if schedule could be deduced from commercial research, it is usually the other way around since the militaries seem to have "unlimited" budge in these types of research.

I think you are mixing concepts -- molten salt reactor use fissile fuel in liquid form. You are talking about liquid metal as non-reactive coolants. Not quite the same.

Molten salt reactors have another issue that I didn't see mentioned here -- it needs a chemical plant to scrub the processed fuel of fissile poisons that were generated by the nuclear reaction. This may be a significant limitation to the range and supply/maintenance requirement that is supposed to be the benefit of nuclear reactors.

 

[hkky]

I think you are mixing concepts -- molten salt reactor use fissile fuel in liquid form. You are talking about liquid metal as non-reactive coolants. Not quite the same.

No, I think you do not have it straight. Molten salt is just a way to remove the heat, wheather sodium or something else (although sodium is not a salt). Have you heard of Kairos demo? It uses molten salt and solid TRISO fuel. I had the opportunity to support this effort briefly first hand.

 

[nemo]

No, I think you do not have it straight. Molten salt is just a way to remove the heat, wheather sodium or something else (although sodium is not a salt). Have you heard of Kairos demo? It uses molten salt and solid TRISO fuel. I had the opportunity to support this effort briefly first hand.

Since you claim to have first hand experience in this, I will defer to you on this issue.

A reactor with solid fuel but room temperature solid salt will not need a chemical plant to process fissile poison and will not need a pressurized containment, but needs to keep coolants from being solidified inside the reactor and the coolant loops.

 

[dingyibvs]

You two are describing 2 different types of molten salt reactors. Yes, molten salt is the coolant, but it can be both the coolant and the reactant containing fissile material in some designs like the Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor.

 

[hkky]

You two are describing 2 different types of molten salt reactors. Yes, molten salt is the coolant, but it can be both the coolant and the reactant containing fissile material in some designs like the Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor.

Not exactly, molten salt is just a category name for the coolant, just like water reactor (WR). For example, you can have pressurized water reactor (PWR), boiling water reactor (BWR), and pressurized heavy water reactor (PHWR). They are all called water moderated reactor. Similarly, you can have different types of fuel for high temperature gas reactor, e.g., TRISO fuel in graphite (actively pursued by China), or roded fuel in the UK AGR design.

In addition to heat removal, the coolant may also define how the reactor functions neutronically; how much they slow down the neutron. Molten metal and molten salt may have been used interchangebly here by some people, but neutronically they are different. Molten sodium does not moderate neutron as much as proposed molten salts. This will of course impact reactor/fuel design, as well as breeding efficiency. I think both have sufficient energetic neutron to burnout actnides (this is the reason why spent fuel need be stored in protected facilities for > 100,000 years) by transmutation, a positive feature of these types of reactors.

 

[dingyibvs]

Not exactly, molten salt is just a category name for the coolant, just like water reactor (WR). For example, you can have pressurized water reactor (PWR), boiling water reactor (BWR), and pressurized heavy water reactor (PHWR). They are all called water moderated reactor. Similarly, you can have different types of fuel for high temperature gas reactor, e.g., TRISO fuel in graphite (actively pursued by China), or roded fuel in the UK AGR design.

In addition to heat removal, the coolant may also define how the reactor functions neutronically; how much they slow down the neutron. Molten metal and molten salt may have been used interchangebly here by some people, but neutronically they are different. Molten sodium does not moderate neutron as much as proposed molten salts. This will of course impact reactor/fuel design, as well as breeding efficiency. I think both have sufficient energetic neutron to burnout actnides (this is the reason why spent fuel need be stored in protected facilities for > 100,000 years) by transmutation, a positive feature of these types of reactors.

While all true, none of your examples address the type of reactor he was referring to. He's referring to a reactor where the fuel is mixed in with the molten salt so that the mixture is both the coolant and the reactant.

 

[hkky]

While all true, none of your examples address the type of reactor he was referring to. He's referring to a reactor where the fuel is mixed in with the molten salt so that the mixture is both the coolant and the reactant.

The examples I provide clearly says that is not irrelevant, merely a different implementation of the reactor type. If that does not answer the questions for you, then there is nothign I can do for you.

 

[by78]

The carrier mockup in Wuhan might be getting a new modification to its island.

The images below show an alleged procurement announcement on a renovation project to an existing structure. The renovated structure is 20 meters in length and 30 meters in height, with requisite windows, openings, doors, railings, etc.