While the world was fighting over oil and uranium, China quietly lit a light of future energy in the desert of Gansu.
Minqin County, a place you may have never heard of, has just officially put into operation a "divine" level reactor - a thorium molten salt reactor. It is not only the only research reactor currently running in the world, but even more impressively, it doesn't burn traditional uranium, but thorium!
What is thorium? In our country, this substance is abundant, as common as "silver". Before, it had little use, but now, it has become nuclear fuel, directly breaking the energy shackles of our "uranium-poor" status.
The design of this reactor is a model of "being afraid of death." It uses liquid molten salt, and once something goes wrong, the system freezes, and the reaction stops automatically, fundamentally preventing the Fukushima-like tragedy of core meltdown. It doesn't require specific locations, unlike traditional nuclear power plants that must be built by the water, it can settle down in the arid deserts of the west.
Even more impressive is that this "national treasure" from blueprint to reality, 100% of the core equipment is made in China, with an overall localization rate exceeding 90%. What does this mean? It means all technical barriers have been kicked away, and the bowl of energy is firmly held in our own hands.
From the project initiation in 2011 to today's sudden success, it's a technological Long March that lasted over a decade. Its success is not just verifying an idea in the laboratory, but also opening a door for China, and even the whole world, to a safer, more independent, and low-carbon energy future.
This is not just a technological breakthrough, it's a quiet energy revolution. While others are still playing on the old table, China has already started to set new rules of the game.
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7567550485742338612/
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