Transatomic Power
{{Short description|American energy company}}
{{Infobox company
|name = Transatomic Power
|type = Privately held
|logo = File:Transatomic Power logo.png
|location = Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
|key_people = Leslie Dewan (Co-founder)
Mark Massie (Co-founder)
Russ Wilcox (Board Director)
|founded = 2011
|defunct = 2018
|industry = Nuclear power
|homepage = [http://www.transatomicpower.com/ transatomicpower.com]
}}
Transatomic Power was an American company that designed Generation IV nuclear reactors based on molten salt reactor (MSR) technology.
MIT alumni Dr. Leslie Dewan and Mark Massie founded Transatomic Power in 2011,{{cite magazine|last1=Cook|first1=Gareth|title=A new way to do nuclear|url=http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/a-new-way-to-do-nuclear|magazine=The New Yorker|date=13 June 2013 |accessdate=20 February 2016}} and its board directors included E Ink Corporation co-founder Russ Wilcox.{{cite web|last1=Martin|first1=Richard|last2=Navigant Research|title=A Pair of MIT Scientists Try To Transform Nuclear Power|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/pikeresearch/2012/09/27/a-pair-of-mit-scientists-try-to-transform-nuclear-power/|website=Forbes|accessdate=20 February 2016}} Among its backers were the venture capital outfit Founders Fund, of which Peter Thiel is a partner.{{cite web|last1=Gray|first1=Kevin|title=Peter Thiel Goes Nuclear|url=http://www.popsci.com/peter-thiel-goes-nuclear|website=Popular Science|date=7 December 2015 |accessdate=20 February 2016}}{{cite web|last1=Fritcke|first1=Emily|title=Can You Be an Environmentalist Without Embracing Nuclear Energy?|url= http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2016/02/26/can_you_be_an_environmentalist_without_embracing_nuclear_energy_a_future.html|website=Slate|date=26 February 2016 |accessdate=28 February 2016}} In 2013, the U.S. Department of Energy awarded Transatomic first prize in the ARPA-E Future Energy innovation contest.
In 2018 the company announced that it would be winding down and open source its intellectual property.{{cite web|url=https://www.technologyreview.com/the-download/612193/nuclear-startup-to-fold-after-failing-to-deliver-reactor-that-ran-on-spent-fuel/|title=A nuclear startup will fold after failing to deliver reactors that run on spent fuel|author=Temple, James|date=September 25, 2018|accessdate=September 25, 2018|publisher=MIT Technology Review}}{{cite web | url=http://www.transatomicpower.com/open-source/ | title=Open Source | date=25 September 2018 }} The company discovered that in 2016 it had made errors in its early analysis and realized that the design couldn't consume nuclear waste.{{cite web|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gates-terrapower-molten-salt-nuclear-reactor-2018-10|title=A Bill Gates-backed energy company is developing what could be a game-changing nuclear reactor|author= Kotecki, Peter|date=November 27, 2018|accessdate=December 2, 2018|publisher=Business Insider}} Transatomic Power ceased operation on September 25, 2018.{{cite web |author=Transatomic |date=September 25, 2018 |title=Transatomic Power |url=https://twitter.com/Transatomic/status/1044543540938780672 |publisher=Twitter |accessdate=October 13, 2019}}
Reactor concept
Transatomic initial concept was that of a Waste Annihilating Molten Salt Reactor (WAMSR) designed to digest spent nuclear fuel.{{cite web|last1=Wile|first1=Rob|title=MIT Kids Think They've Solved How To Get Rid Of Nuclear Waste|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/waste-annihilating-molten-salt-reactor-2012-6|website=Business Insider|publisher=Axel Springer|access-date=20 February 2016}}
The concept was based on the Molten-Salt Reactor Experiment reactor that ran at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) from 1964 to 1969.
It was open to the use of thorium or uranium as a fuel in its reactors.{{cite web|last1=Halper|first1=Mark|title=Meet Transatomic Power: Developing an alternative reactor, with Silicon Valley flair|url=http://www.the-weinberg-foundation.org/2012/09/28/meet-transatomic-power-developing-an-alternative-reactor-with-silicon-valley-flair/|website=Weinberg Next Nuclear|publisher=The Alvin Weinberg Foundation|accessdate=20 February 2016}}
This design was later updated and corrected, and the claim that the reactor is able to use nuclear waste as fuel was dropped.{{cite web|last1=Temple|first1=James|title=Exclusive: Silicon Valley-backed nuclear energy startup Transatomic backtracks on key promises|url=https://www.technologyreview.com/s/603731/nuclear-energy-startup-transatomic-backtracks-on-key-promises/|website=MIT Technology Review|accessdate=27 March 2017|language=en}}
The latest design is based on a low pressure, high temperature molten salt reactor.
Features include:
- A planned capacity of 1250 MWth, converting this to 520 MWe of electricity. This is a conservative rating of 41.6% efficiency.TAP v1.0.3, 2016, p 3,35.
- Passive nuclear safety features:TAP v1.0.3, 2016, p. 32. Fail safe freeze valve and drain tank and Control rods and neutron reflectors - also actively actuatable.transatomic_patent, claims
- Lithium fluoride (LiF) fuel salt.TAP v1.0.3, 2016, p. 3. This is a departure from the Molten-Salt Reactor Experiment, which used an admixture of beryllium fluoride in its salt to get beryllium's corrosion control and neutron-doubling effects. Transatomic claims that LiF can dissolve more fuel per unit of salt, compensating for LiF's lack of neutron-doubling and higher melting point.TAP v1.0.1, 2016, section 2.3. An additional issue is that to minimize tritium production, the salt's ratio of lithium 7 should be enhanced. Currently, Lithium 7 is produced only in small amounts, for calibrating mass spectrographs. A single reactor will require quantities on the order of several metric tonnes.
- Moderated by zirconium hydride (ZrH),TAP v1.0.3, 2016, p. 18. possibly also using lithium hydride (LiH) and yttrium hydride (YH).{{cite web|last1=Massie|first1=Mark|last2=Dewan|first2=Leslie C.|title=US 20130083878 A1, April 4, 2013, NUCLEAR REACTORS AND RELATED METHODS AND APPARATUS|url=http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220130083878%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20130083878&RS=DN/20130083878|website=U.S. Patent Office|publisher=U.S. Government|accessdate=2 June 2016|ref=transatomic_patent}} ZrH is corroded by molten LiF salt, but an admixture of YH in the moderator may form an anticorrosion barrier of yttrium lithium fluoride.{{cite web|title=Transatomic's Patent|url=http://energyfromthorium.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=4690|website=Energy From Thorium Discussion Forum|publisher=Energy from Thorium Blog|accessdate=2 June 2016}}
- The reactor's vat, piping, heat-exchangers and pumps are to be made of "Modified Hastelloy-N," a corrosion-resistant nickel-chromium alloy developed from experience with the Molten-Salt Reactor Experiment.TAP v1.0.1, 2016, section 2.6.{{Citation |last1=Keiser |first1=J.R. |title=Status of Tellurium-Hastelloy N Studies in Molten Fluoride Salts |publisher=Oak Ridge National Laboratories |year=1977 |url=http://www.moltensalt.org/references/static/downloads/pdf/ORNL-TM-6002.pdf |id=ORNL/TM-6002}} There is no published operating experience using this alloy with LiF in a reactor core, and the salt's lack of a redox control component (such as beryllium) to manage corrosion increases the risk. Regulators may delay commercial deployment of Transatomic's reactor by up to two full refueling cycles to validate this choice. With the Transatomic reactor's long fuel-use cycle, this could take a decade, and pose commercial risks.
See also
{{portal|Energy|Nuclear technology}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.transatomicpower.com/ transatomicpower.com]
{{Emerging nuclear power markets}}
Category:Nuclear technology companies of the United States
Category:Energy companies established in 2011
Category:Non-renewable resource companies established in 2011