The Department of Energy and China have entered into a proposed agreement that would allow the exchange and joint development of a Traveling Wave Reactor design, according to a notice in the Federal Register yesterday. The agreement, advocated by the Chinese government and the industry, would allow U.S. companies to engage the Chinese government agencies that are working on similar technologies. The areas of cooperation included in the agreement would be: TWR reactor neutronics analysis and experimentation, TWR reactor and plant safety, TWR fuels and materials, TWR nuclear steam supply systems and their associated components and equipment, and treatment, storage, recycle, and disposal technology of TWR reactor and system spent fuel, among other topic areas. To achieve these ends, the agreement permits the exchange of ideas, scientists, and materials that may benefit in advancing the technology while also including clauses to protect against proliferation concerns.
TWRs are the latest technology aimed at closing the nuclear loop. Current reactors operate in an open loop, in which spent fuel and radioactive waste by-products from the process are not capable of being re-used. TWRs re-process these wastes by using waves that breed and then burn the fuel over and over again. They would be designed to operate for an extended period of time using fuels such as natural uranium, depleted uranium, spent light water reactor fuel, or thorium. Notably, Bill Gates has started a company, Terrapower, aimed at bringing this technology to life. He has gone on the record as saying that he envisions this technology could provide energy for 800 years on only a small amount of uranium. It is widely assumed that this agreement between DOE and China will greatly benefit the company’s research and development opportunities.
