China Overtakes US in Thorium-Based Nuclear Development

April 21, 2025 | 11:41 am

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - China has activated a thorium-based nuclear reactor, or thorium molten salt reactor, and claimed it as the world's first clean nuclear energy. The reactor is located in the Gobi Desert, where Chinese scientists have successfully refilled thorium fuel into the reactor without stopping its operation.

What they have done marks a significant leap forward in using thorium as an alternative to the safer and more abundant uranium in nuclear energy. This achievement was directly revealed by the head of the scientific team in the thorium reactor project, Xu Hongjie, during a closed meeting of the Chinese Academy of Sciences on April 8, 2025.

The experimental reactor unit, located in the Gobi Desert, reportedly has a thermal energy generation capacity of 2 megawatts (MW). This reactor uses thorium as its radioactive fuel source, while the molten salt is the fuel carrier and manages its heat (coolant).

Xu Hongjie stated that the thorium reactor would be fully operational in June 2024 and complete fuel loading four months later. The reactor is said to have passed the critical point in October 2023.

“We now lead the global frontier,” Xu said, as quoted by several news sites such as Daily Times and Interesting Engineering on April 17, 2025, which cited Guanming Daily.

Why Switch from Uranium to Thorium?

According to Xu, scientists worldwide have chosen thorium as a more advantageous alternative to uranium. First, thorium is more abundant in the Earth's crust and produces radioactive waste with a shorter lifespan. Some experts estimate that just one thorium mine in Inner Mongolia is theoretically sufficient to supply China's energy needs for tens of thousands of years.

Illustration of thorium radioactive material. Shutterstock

Second, thorium is less suitable than uranium for use in weapons. This reduces the security risks. Furthermore, when combined with molten salt technology, the reactor can be operated under atmospheric pressure conditions that naturally limit excessive heat, improving the safety level of nuclear reactors.

Developing Neglected Research from America

Xu and his team at the Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, built this technology based on declassified research from the United States. Xu Hongjie explained that researchers in the U.S. had been building and testing early molten salt reactor technology since the 1960s, but did not further develop it because they chose uranium technology.

“The US left its research publicly available, waiting for the right successor. We were that successor," he said in the closed meeting. “We mastered every technique in the literature – then pushed further."

Xu Hongjie mentioned that the construction of the experimental reactor in the Gobi Desert began in 2018. He also mentioned that their team grew from initially several dozen people to more than 400. They have even started building a larger thorium reactor, with a 10 MW power capacity, and it is expected to reach its critical point in 2030.

In addition, plans are being developed for a thorium-powered cargo ship to significantly reduce maritime transport's emissions. Xu highlighted the symbolic nature of this project by linking its timing to important achievements in Chinese nuclear history.

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