In April 2025, scientists from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) announced that they, for the first time, refueled a thorium nuclear reactor while keeping it operating.

In the deserts of China, the world’s first operational thorium reactor has come online—powered by declassified U.S. research.

It is possible to recycle the U-233 decay into new fuel, or continue fueling the machine with it as is, the latter of which is usually done with molten salt reactors like this new thorium reactor ...

China’s reactor uses salt both as coolant and in its fuel. Thorium is not only more abundant than uranium, but has the upside of not being as easy to weaponize.

Tech News China Discovers 60,000 Years of Energy, Using U.S.-Invented Thorium Reactor Technology By The Droid Guy April 27, 2025 ...

Although uranium-235 is the typical fuel for commercial fission reactors on account of it being fissile, it’s relatively rare relative to the fertile U-238 and thorium (Th-232). Using either … ...

China’s new reactor builds on work abandoned by the United States as recently as 2018. Thorium, a radioactive metal named after the Norse god Thor, has some merits.

Thorium power cannot develop a run-away uncontrolled reaction like a uranium reactor. The thorium reactor by-products cannot make a nuclear bomb since the wrong isotopes are produced.

The 13.6 trillion yuan ($1.9 trillion) that China spent on clean energy in the past year was nearly equal to the amount of money that the entire rest of the world spent on fossil fuels over the ...

In a molten salt reactor, thorium and uranium fluorides are dissolved in molten salt, which, in ThorCon’s case is a mix of fluorides of beryllium and sodium heated between 560C and 700C.

China’s reactor uses salt both as coolant and in its fuel. Thorium is not only more abundant than uranium, but has the upside of not being as easy to weaponize.