The article discusses the Department of Energy’s (DOE) recent shipment of over 4,700 pounds of a rare salt, used in molten salt reactors, to Natura Resources. This collaboration, alongside Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Idaho National Laboratory, aims to support the development of Natura’s Molten Salt Reactor (MSR-1) at Abilene Christian University in Texas.
The salt, known as FLiBE—a mixture of lithium fluoride and beryllium fluoride—was historically used as a coolant in Oak Ridge’s Molten Salt Reactor Experiment and allows reactors to operate more efficiently at high temperatures. The larger context connects past nuclear innovations with current advancements, reflecting a commitment to a new era in nuclear energy.
Natura Resources plans to leverage this historic material to continue enhancing reactor technology while aligning with DOE’s Reactor Pilot Program, which is designed to expedite testing of advanced reactor designs. The initiative recently celebrated milestones with reactor prototypes achieving criticality.
