Moltex Energy Limited subsidiary MoltexFLEX has announced the launch of its FLEX molten salt reactor. Through flexible operation and the use of thermal storage technology, the FLEX can support intermittent renewable energy through its rapid responsiveness to changes in demand.
A MoltexFLEX representative said, “This advanced nuclear technology has the flexibility of gas-fired power stations, but it generates electricity at a lower cost, and without carbon emissions.”
The FLEX reactor has no moving parts. It is simple in both design and operation. The FLEX can respond to changes in energy demand. It can automatically enter an idle state or return to full power. This makes it an ideal compliment to wind and solar power. Conventional nuclear power reactors are not able to easily and quickly change their output.
According to MoltexFLEX, the cost of electricity generated by the FLEX reactor is comparable to the cost of wind generated electricity. This cost is roughly forty-four dollars per megawatt. This low cost is achieved by a unique, patented system which uses two molten salts. One of the salts acts as a fuel and the other circulates as a coolant. This permits the heat from the reactor to be extracted through natural convection, without the need for pumps.
The FLEX reactor is small and modular. This allows the components to be factory-produced and readily transported. This, in turn, increases the speed of construction and minimizes overall cost. The FLEX reactor is passively safe, so it does not require engineered, redundant, active safety systems.
Once it is online, the FLEX reactor can be operated with the same skill sets and equipment used in a fossil fuel plant. The FLEX reactor has no moving parts and can be fueled to operate for twenty years at a time. This means that there is very little operator input and very low ongoing costs.
Each FLEX reactor delivers forty megawatts of thermal energy at thirteen hundred degrees Fahrenheit. This heat is stored in MoltexFLEX’s GridReserve thermal storage tanks. The FLEX reactor can deliver three times the power when renewables alone cannot meet the market need for electricity.
During longer periods of renewable generation, the FLEX reactor can just move passively into idle mode. This produces just enough heat to keep the reactor at operating temperature.
MoltexFLEX estimates that it will take just twenty-four months to construct a five hundred megawatt power plant. The company hopes to have its first reactor operational by 2029.
David Landon is the CEO for MoltexFLEX. He said, "We recognized the need for an energy supply that can support renewables when the sun doesn't shine or the wind doesn't blow. In the FLEX reactor, we have a solution for consumers and countries alike. The FLEX reactor provides the safety net of affordable domestic energy but is versatile enough for applications ranging from decarbonizing heavy industry to powering cargo ships.”
The FLEX reactor is the version of Moltex Energy’s stable salt reactor technology that is moderated by thermal neutrons. The same technology is shared with MoltexFLEX’s sister company, Moltex Energy Canada Inc. This company is developing a fast neutron version of the stable salt reactor.
In May of 2021, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission completed the first phase of the pre-licensing vendor design review for Moltex Energy’s three-hundred-megawatt Stable Salt Reactor which is called Wasteburner (SSR-W 300) small modular reactor. The SSR-W is a molten salt reactor that uses nuclear waste as fuel. This company aims to deploy its first such reactor at the Point Lepreau site in New Brunswick by the early 2030s.