【Major News from China: China Launches Thorium-Based Reactor for Innovative Ships】
On November 6, 2025, Beijing Time, the South China Morning Post (a media outlet under Alibaba) wrote in a press release:
China has revealed an important detail about the development of an innovative cargo ship capable of carrying 14,000 containers, which will be equipped with a thorium molten salt reactor. Unlike traditional nuclear reactors that operate on uranium and require heavy and large cooling systems and high pressure, China's new reactor will use thorium, a much safer material with far greater reserves. The innovation of this ship lies in its power source, a thorium molten salt reactor with a thermal power of 200 megawatts. The power of this cargo ship will be comparable to the S6W reactor used in advanced U.S. Navy nuclear submarines. If this technology is successfully implemented on a large scale in the future, it may lead to a paradigm shift in commercial shipping.
Original article: www.toutiao.com/article/1847982054382727/
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