Seaborg Technologies secure funding for thorium-based molten salt reactors

Copenhagen-based Seaborg Technologies, which is developing thorium-based Molten Salt Reactors (MSRs), has received funding from an investment coalition led by Danish innovation incubator PreSeed Ventures.

The company hopes the funding will accelerate development of its CUBE (Compact Used fuel BurnEr) reactor concept.

The compact, modular CUBE reactor, which can fit inside a 20-foot container, could provide enough power for 200,000 homes, the company claims.

Unlike conventional nuclear reactors, which are based on solid pellets or rods of low-enriched uranium, MSRs use a liquid fuel – molten salt.

In a conventional reactor the solid uranium pellets must be submerged in water to keep them cool. If this cooling water is lost, the reactor melts down.

In contrast, in an MSR the molten salt acts as both the fuel and the coolant, meaning that if the reactor loses its coolant it also loses its fuel, and the reactor stops automatically, according to Troels Schönfeldt, CEO of Seaborg Technologies.