en.Wedoany.com Reported - The Franco-Dutch joint venture Thorizon is working to develop Europe's first molten salt reactor (MSR), and has started construction of a test facility in Eindhoven, Netherlands.
The company plans to build a small experimental reactor in Petten four years later, and a fully operational commercial thorium-based reactor in Borssele, Zeeland province by 2034. If realized on schedule, the Netherlands will become the third country in the world, after the United States and China, to have a thorium reactor.
Thorium-based molten salt reactors use thorium instead of uranium as fuel. Thorium is abundant globally and is often a byproduct of other mining operations. Thorizon CEO Kiki Lauwers explained that this reactor type has inherent safety—it will slowly shut down without human intervention rather than causing a severe accident. The reactor operates at around 700°C and uses molten salt, which is highly corrosive. Therefore, the design uses modular components manufactured by VDL, replaced every five years, similar to changing batteries. Former ASML CEO Peter Wennink stated at an event that innovation requires taking risks and breaking free from the mindset that "everything must be zero-risk."
The technical concept dates back to the 1950s but later received more policy support due to the plutonium byproduct from uranium reactors, which can be used for weapons—molten salt reactors are theoretically difficult to militarize, so they were not developed on a large scale. Currently, China and the United States are making faster progress in thorium molten salt reactors. Thorizon will use the Eindhoven test facility to validate key technologies. China has announced breakthroughs in experimental thorium reactors, stating that most technical obstacles have been overcome.
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