The Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) announced today that Flibe Energy, Inc will be provided a GAIN Nuclear Energy Voucher to accelerate the innovation and application of the Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor (LFTR) Preliminary Safeguards Assessment. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) will be operating as the Partner Facility with Flibe Energy on the project.
Flibe Energy, Inc. is developing the LFTR concept as an innovative two-fluid molten-salt reactor coupled to a closed-cycle gas turbine for power generation. Once started with high-233U-content fuel, the LFTR would require no fissile replenishment during its operation, eliminating the need for uranium enrichment infrastructure. LFTR would also eliminate fuel fabrication and utilize internal chemical processing to purify its fuel salt and remove fission products. At the end of its operation, the salts are to be recycled to the next generation of LFTRs. This strategy would nearly eliminate the production of long-lived radioactive wastes and retain all actinides in useful operation in a steady-state environment.
About GAIN
The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE) established GAIN to provide the nuclear community with the technical, regulatory, and financial support necessary to move innovative nuclear energy technologies toward commercialization while ensuring the continued safe, reliable, and economic operation of the existing nuclear fleet. Through GAIN, DOE is marking its state-of-the-art and continuously improving RD&D infrastructure available to stakeholders to achieve faster and cost-effective development of innovative nuclear energy technologies.