Copenhagen Atomics: Difference between revisions
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molten salt pump 2 year continuous test, Commercial deployment forecast ~2030–2031, del See alsos used above, improve cite |
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In 2016, Copenhagen Atomics was part of MIMOSA, a European nuclear molten salt research consortium.<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1016/B978-0-08-101126-3.00023-3 |chapter=Copenhagen Atomics waste burner |title=Molten Salt Reactors and Thorium Energy |date=2017 |last1=Pedersen |first1=Thomas J. |pages=599–607 |isbn=978-0-08-101126-3 }}</ref> | In 2016, Copenhagen Atomics was part of MIMOSA, a European nuclear molten salt research consortium.<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1016/B978-0-08-101126-3.00023-3 |chapter=Copenhagen Atomics waste burner |title=Molten Salt Reactors and Thorium Energy |date=2017 |last1=Pedersen |first1=Thomas J. |pages=599–607 |isbn=978-0-08-101126-3 }}</ref> | ||
By the end of 2022, Copenhagen Atomics finished a full-size prototype reactor. The prototype is a full-scale test platform, that tests the system in its entirety, with water as its medium. In 2023 a full-scale prototype molten salt reactor was built to test the entire system with non-radioactive molten salts.<ref> | By the end of 2022, Copenhagen Atomics finished a full-size prototype reactor. The prototype is a full-scale test platform, that tests the system in its entirety, with water as its medium. In 2023 a full-scale prototype molten salt reactor was built to test the entire system with non-radioactive molten salts.<<ref name=nucnet-20221122>{{cite news |url=https://www.nucnet.org/news/danish-company-to-begin-testing-thorium-prototype-11-2-2022 |title=Danish Company To Begin Testing Thorium Prototype |last=Dalton |first=David |website=NucNet |date=22 November 2022 |access-date=22 September 2026}}</ref> | ||
In May 2023, Copenhagen Atomics signed a memorandum of understanding with the [[Scandinavia|Scandinavian]] companies [[Topsoe]], [[Alfa Laval]] and [[Aalborg CSP]], and [[Indonesia|Indonesian]] companies [[Pupuk Kalimantan Timur]] and [[Pertamina|Pertamina New and Renewable Energy]], with the prospect of establishing a [[green ammonia]] plant in [[Bontang]], Indonesia. The plant will be capable of producing 1 million tonnes of ultra-low emission [[ammonia]] annually, which will save the emission of 1.7 million tonnes of [[carbon dioxide]] per year.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.investmentmonitor.ai/news/danish-companies-sign-mou-on-nuclear-deal-with-indonesia/ |title=Danish companies sign MOU on nuclear deal with Indonesia |website=investmentmonitor.ai |date=2023-05-22 |access-date=2023-06-07}}</ref> | In May 2023, Copenhagen Atomics signed a memorandum of understanding with the [[Scandinavia|Scandinavian]] companies [[Topsoe]], [[Alfa Laval]] and [[Aalborg CSP]], and [[Indonesia|Indonesian]] companies [[Pupuk Kalimantan Timur]] and [[Pertamina|Pertamina New and Renewable Energy]], with the prospect of establishing a [[green ammonia]] plant in [[Bontang]], Indonesia. The plant will be capable of producing 1 million tonnes of ultra-low emission [[ammonia]] annually, which will save the emission of 1.7 million tonnes of [[carbon dioxide]] per year.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.investmentmonitor.ai/news/danish-companies-sign-mou-on-nuclear-deal-with-indonesia/ |title=Danish companies sign MOU on nuclear deal with Indonesia |website=investmentmonitor.ai |date=2023-05-22 |access-date=2023-06-07}}</ref> | ||
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In July of 2024, Copenhagen Atomics announced that their prototype reactors are ready to be tested in a real life scenario, in a critical experiment at the [[Paul Scherrer Institute]] in [[Switzerland]]. Set to launch in 2026-27, this will be the first time in European history that a critical experiment is carried out with a thorium molten salt reactor.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Copenhagen Atomics enlists PSI to validate reactor technology : New Nuclear - World Nuclear News |url=https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Copenhagen-Atomics-enlists-PSI-to-validate-reactor |access-date=2024-07-12 |website=www.world-nuclear-news.org}}</ref> | In July of 2024, Copenhagen Atomics announced that their prototype reactors are ready to be tested in a real life scenario, in a critical experiment at the [[Paul Scherrer Institute]] in [[Switzerland]]. Set to launch in 2026-27, this will be the first time in European history that a critical experiment is carried out with a thorium molten salt reactor.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Copenhagen Atomics enlists PSI to validate reactor technology : New Nuclear - World Nuclear News |url=https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Copenhagen-Atomics-enlists-PSI-to-validate-reactor |access-date=2024-07-12 |website=www.world-nuclear-news.org}}</ref> | ||
In Q2/2026, the actual schedule is to do the test "not earlier than 2028", the same 2-3 years from now like 2024. <ref>https://www.psi.ch/en/ahl/faqs-on-the-balder-project</ref> | In Q2/2026, the actual schedule is to do the test "not earlier than 2028", the same 2-3 years from now like 2024. <ref>https://www.psi.ch/en/ahl/faqs-on-the-balder-project</ref> Commercial deployment was forecast to be about 2030–2031.<ref name=nei-20260521>{{cite news |url=https://www.neimagazine.com/analysis/proving-msr-reliability/?cf-view |title=Proving MSR reliability |publisher=Nuclear Engineering International |date=21 May 2026 |access-date=22 September 2026}}</ref> | ||
==Reactor design== | ==Reactor design== | ||
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==Research and development== | ==Research and development== | ||
Copenhagen Atomics is pursuing a hardware-driven iterative component-by-component approach to reactor development, instead of a full design license and approval approach. Copenhagen Atomics is actively developing and testing valves, pumps, heat exchangers, measurement systems, salt chemistry and purification systems, and control systems and software for molten salt applications.<ref name="youtube.com">{{cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-J70XaXbmws |title=Copenhagen Atomics - Thomas Jam Pedersen @ TEAC10 |date=17 November 2019 |publisher=YouTube |accessdate=22 December 2019}}</ref> | Copenhagen Atomics is pursuing a hardware-driven iterative component-by-component approach to reactor development, instead of a full design license and approval approach. Copenhagen Atomics is actively developing and testing valves, pumps, heat exchangers, measurement systems, salt chemistry and purification systems, and control systems and software for molten salt applications.<ref name="youtube.com">{{cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-J70XaXbmws |title=Copenhagen Atomics - Thomas Jam Pedersen @ TEAC10 |date=17 November 2019 |publisher=YouTube |accessdate=22 December 2019}}</ref> | ||
The company has also developed the world's only canned molten salt pump and are developing an [[Magnetic Bearings|active electromagnetic bearing]] canned molten salt pump.<ref name="youtube.com"/> | |||
The company has also developed the world's only canned molten salt pump and are developing an [[Magnetic Bearings|active electromagnetic bearing]] canned molten salt pump.<ref name="youtube.com"/> In February 2026, the molten salt pump completed two years of continuous test operation under high-temperature conditions.<ref name=wnn-20260210>{{cite news |url=https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/copenhagen-atomics-reaches-pump-testing-milestone |title=Copenhagen Atomics reaches pump testing milestone |website=World Nuclear News |date=10 February 2026 |access-date=22 September 2026}}</ref><ref name=nei-20260521/> | |||
Copenhagen Atomics offers many of their technologies commercially available to the market. This includes pumped molten salt loops for use in molten salt reactor research, as well as highly purified salts for high temperature [[concentrated solar power]], [[Thermal_energy_storage#Molten salt technology|molten salt energy storage]], and molten salt chemistry research.<ref>{{cite web |title=Products |url=https://www.copenhagenatomics.com/products/ |publisher=Copenhagen Atomics |accessdate=22 December 2019}}</ref> | Copenhagen Atomics offers many of their technologies commercially available to the market. This includes pumped molten salt loops for use in molten salt reactor research, as well as highly purified salts for high temperature [[concentrated solar power]], [[Thermal_energy_storage#Molten salt technology|molten salt energy storage]], and molten salt chemistry research.<ref>{{cite web |title=Products |url=https://www.copenhagenatomics.com/products/ |publisher=Copenhagen Atomics |accessdate=22 December 2019}}</ref> | ||
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==See also== | ==See also== | ||
* [[Molten Salt Reactor Experiment]] | * [[Molten Salt Reactor Experiment]] | ||
* [[Liquid fluoride thorium reactor]] | * [[Liquid fluoride thorium reactor]] | ||
==References== | ==References== | ||
Revision as of 15:21, 22 September 2026
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Copenhagen Atomics is a Danish molten salt technology company developing mass manufacturable molten-salt reactors. The company is pursuing small modular, molten fuel salt, thorium fuel cycle, thermal spectrum, breeder reactors using separated plutonium from spent nuclear fuel as the initial fissile load for the first generation of reactors.[1]
Copenhagen Atomics' headquarters and production facility is located in Kastrup close to Copenhagen Airport.
History
Copenhagen Atomics was founded in 2014 by a group of scientists and engineers meeting at Technical University of Denmark and around the greater Copenhagen area to discuss thorium and molten salt reactors, which were later incorporated in 2015.[2]
In 2016, Copenhagen Atomics was part of MIMOSA, a European nuclear molten salt research consortium.[3]
By the end of 2022, Copenhagen Atomics finished a full-size prototype reactor. The prototype is a full-scale test platform, that tests the system in its entirety, with water as its medium. In 2023 a full-scale prototype molten salt reactor was built to test the entire system with non-radioactive molten salts.<[4]
In May 2023, Copenhagen Atomics signed a memorandum of understanding with the Scandinavian companies Topsoe, Alfa Laval and Aalborg CSP, and Indonesian companies Pupuk Kalimantan Timur and Pertamina New and Renewable Energy, with the prospect of establishing a green ammonia plant in Bontang, Indonesia. The plant will be capable of producing 1 million tonnes of ultra-low emission ammonia annually, which will save the emission of 1.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.[5]
In July of 2024, Copenhagen Atomics announced that their prototype reactors are ready to be tested in a real life scenario, in a critical experiment at the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland. Set to launch in 2026-27, this will be the first time in European history that a critical experiment is carried out with a thorium molten salt reactor.[6]
In Q2/2026, the actual schedule is to do the test "not earlier than 2028", the same 2-3 years from now like 2024. [7] Commercial deployment was forecast to be about 2030–2031.[8]
Reactor design
The company describes its reactor core as shaped like an onion, with the outermost layer being a breeding blanket of 2,000 liters of Lithium Fluoride /Thorium Fluoride salts at 600°C used to transmute thorium into fissile Uranium-233.
The next layer consists of heavy water at 80°C.
Farther inward is the pumped fuel salt layer, about 200 liters of Lithium 7 Fluoride/Uranium Tetrafluoride, which enters the core at 600°C and exits at 700°C, and serves as both fuel and coolant.
The innermost layer is the moderator, more heavy water at 80°C, with the total amount of heavy water being ~1,200 liters.
The layers are separated by stainless steel, in early versions, but later probably by silicon carbide composites. 2 to 3 centimetres of yttria stabilised zirconia insulate the heavy water from the hot salts.
The design requires that fission products are removed online (while the reactor is operating).[9]
Research and development
Copenhagen Atomics is pursuing a hardware-driven iterative component-by-component approach to reactor development, instead of a full design license and approval approach. Copenhagen Atomics is actively developing and testing valves, pumps, heat exchangers, measurement systems, salt chemistry and purification systems, and control systems and software for molten salt applications.[10]
The company has also developed the world's only canned molten salt pump and are developing an active electromagnetic bearing canned molten salt pump.[10] In February 2026, the molten salt pump completed two years of continuous test operation under high-temperature conditions.[11][8]
Copenhagen Atomics offers many of their technologies commercially available to the market. This includes pumped molten salt loops for use in molten salt reactor research, as well as highly purified salts for high temperature concentrated solar power, molten salt energy storage, and molten salt chemistry research.[12]
Environmental Impact
According to the website Thorium Energy World: "The CAWB [ed. Copenhagen Atomics Waste Burner] will use thorium to burn out actinides from spent nuclear fuel in order to convert long-lived radioactive waste into short-lived radioactive waste, while producing large amounts of energy and jobs in present time."[13]
See also
References
- ↑ "Advances in Small Modular Reactor Technology Developments". International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). https://aris.iaea.org/Publications/SMR-Book_2018.pdf. Retrieved on 22 December 2019.
- ↑ Template:Cite AV media
- ↑ Pedersen, Thomas J. (2017). "Copenhagen Atomics waste burner". Molten Salt Reactors and Thorium Energy. pp. 599–607. doi:. ISBN 978-0-08-101126-3.
- ↑ Dalton, David (22 November 2022). "Danish Company To Begin Testing Thorium Prototype". https://www.nucnet.org/news/danish-company-to-begin-testing-thorium-prototype-11-2-2022.
- ↑ "Danish companies sign MOU on nuclear deal with Indonesia". 2023-05-22. https://www.investmentmonitor.ai/news/danish-companies-sign-mou-on-nuclear-deal-with-indonesia/.
- ↑ "Copenhagen Atomics enlists PSI to validate reactor technology : New Nuclear - World Nuclear News". https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Copenhagen-Atomics-enlists-PSI-to-validate-reactor.
- ↑ https://www.psi.ch/en/ahl/faqs-on-the-balder-project
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Proving MSR reliability". Nuclear Engineering International. 21 May 2026. https://www.neimagazine.com/analysis/proving-msr-reliability/?cf-view.
- ↑ Template:Cite AV media
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Template:Cite AV media
- ↑ "Copenhagen Atomics reaches pump testing milestone". 10 February 2026. https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/copenhagen-atomics-reaches-pump-testing-milestone.
- ↑ "Products". Copenhagen Atomics. https://www.copenhagenatomics.com/products/. Retrieved on 22 December 2019.
- ↑ "Copenhagen Atomics". Thorium Energy World. http://www.thoriumenergyworld.com/copenhagen-atomics.html. Retrieved on 9 June 2021.