Oak Ridge ran an MSR for four years without difficulty. One solution is to just do that, rather than trying to make a reactor last 60 years.
At least two startups are going that route. ThorCon's design is a plant with reactor cores as replaceable "cans," each lasting four years in production plus four years of cool-down before shipping to a reprocessing facility. Terrestrial Energy has sealed 7-year units.
At least two startups are going that route. ThorCon's design is a plant with reactor cores as replaceable "cans," each lasting four years in production plus four years of cool-down before shipping to a reprocessing facility. Terrestrial Energy has sealed 7-year units.