WNN reports that Terrestrial Energy is submitting its Integral Molten Salt Reactor (IMSR) design to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) for pre-licensing review. The submission marks a first step towards an eventual licence application.
The CNSC offers a pre-licensing vendor design review as an optional service to provide an assessment of a nuclear power plant design based on the reactor technology. It is not a required part of the licensing process for a new nuclear power plant, but aims to verify the acceptability of a nuclear power plant design with respect to Canadian nuclear regulatory requirements and expectations.
The review involves three phases: a pre-licensing assessment of compliance with regulatory requirements, an assessment of any potential fundamental barriers to licensing, and a follow-up phase allowing the vendor to respond to findings from the second phase. These findings will be taken into account in any subsequent construction licence application, increasing the efficiency of technical reviews, according to the CNSC.
Molten salt reactors use fuel dissolved in a molten fluoride or chloride salt which functions as both the fuel (producing the heat) and the coolant (transporting the heat away and ultimately to the power plant). This means that such a reactor could not suffer from a loss of coolant leading to a meltdown. A molten salt test reactor operated successfully at the U.S. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in the 1960s. Terrestrial Energy in January 2015 announced a collaboration with ORNL to develop its IMSR design to the engineering blueprint stage.
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