China Powers Up the World's Only Thorium Salt Reactor

In a remote desert, Chinese scientists are testing a radically safer kind of nuclear power—one that could reshape the global energy equation.

Chinese scientists have achieved a milestone in clean energy technology by successfully adding fresh fuel to an operational thorium molten salt reactor, according to reporting by the South China Morning Post.

In the remote Gobi Desert of Western China, a revolutionary nuclear experiment is taking shape. The TMSR-LF1, or thorium Molten Salt Reactor – Liquid Fluoride 1, is a 2-megawatt prototype currently in the commissioning phase. This reactor represents a bold departure from current uranium-based nuclear energy. If successful, China aims to scale the technology to commercial levels by the 2030s, producing hundreds of megawatts of electricity. Crucially, the project aligns with Beijing’s broader goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2060.

Thorium reactors—especially those using molten salt technology—have long been seen as an alternative to today’s uranium-based nuclear power generation. Now, China is leading efforts to bring them into real-world operation. If successful, the country could be the first to generate power with a significant new form of nuclear technology. China already possesses a rapidly advancing nuclear sector. Notably, it was the first country to deploy a Generation IV uranium reactor—a high-temperature gas-cooled design that began operating in 2021. The thorium molten salt project marks another significant step forward.

But why develop this technology when a proven uranium energy industry with associated supply chains already exists? There are quite a number of reasons which are compelling in different ways:

THORIUM ABUNDANCE

Thorium is three times more abundant than uranium and China has plenty of it. From the perspective of a nation that relies on imports of uranium, Oil and Coal for it’s energy this advantage alone is compelling.

Across the Himalayas India is developing similar technology as it holds the worlds largest thorium reserves. This element is distributed quite widely across the world. The USA for example, holds more than enough for self sufficiency.

SAFETY

Safety is also reason for enthusiasm around this type of reactor. Thorium (Th 232) is non fissile, meaning that it won’t fission when it is hit by a neutron. Once inside the reactor core, neutrons are absorbed by thorium, which transforms into uranium-233, a fissile material that sustains the reaction Because it cannot sustain a reaction itself, it requires active input to sustain. A runaway chain reaction is not possible.

FUEL MANUFACTURE

The manufacture of uranium is expensive and complex. There are risks of contamination, radiation exposure and theft during mining, purification and transport. After that, that it needs to be refined which is another expensive and hazardous process.

A Thorium molten salt reactor essentially refines the raw fuel into heat itself, eliminating the refinement process entirely. It is also much safer to handle during mining and transport, and can be mined in open pits.

PROLIFERATION RISK AND WHY THERE IS NO THORIUM POWER INDUSTRY

With all these advantages of thorium over uranium one may wonder why uranium reactors were chosen as the de-facto standard in the first place.

The underlying science is not new. In the 1960s, the United States successfully operated a molten salt reactor at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Being a prototype it was beset with technical difficulties, was shut down in 1970, and development ceased. Cold War geopolitics steered nuclear research toward uranium, largely because it yielded plutonium for weapons. Economic and environmental considerations took a back seat to military strategy.

As far as further proliferation of nuclear weapons is concerned, Thorium power generation poses a far lesser risk. Crucially, it does not produce any Plutonium so it does not create a capacity for it’s production the way uranium powered reactors do. Thorium reactors do produce Uranium 233 during a stage in the process but it is not practical to extract it. It would be completely impractical for a country that has no nuclear industry at all to start developing and testing their own Thorium reactors over several decades for the purpose of one day developing a clandestine program of extracting Uranium 233 and developing a method of weaponising it. In the end, given the current state of nuclear armaments and nations that already possess Plutonium manufacturing capabilities, Thorium does not represent a risk for proliferation, which is why it was never development for this purpose in the first place.

WHY MOLTEN SALT REACTORS?

First of all, molten salt reactors are generally agreed to be more suitable for Thorium than any other type. Molten salt reactors also come with many safety advantages. They operate at atmospheric pressure, eliminating the explosion risk associated with high-pressure water-cooled systems which are the most common forms of uranium reactors.

Second, if the reactor should overheat, the liquid salt expands, slowing the nuclear reaction naturally. In extreme cases, the reactor is designed to passively drain the salt into a containment vessel without any need for active intervention. These reactors are ‘off by default’ meaning that if active inputs were to cease, the liquid salt would cool and solidify, passively stopping the reaction.

RADIOACTIVE WASTE

This is another major point in favour of thorium over the current industry. The thorium fuel cycle generates significantly less long-lived radioactive elements than uranium-based systems. Furthermore, while conventional nuclear waste can remain hazardous for tens of thousands of years, thorium waste decays in just a few hundred years. This changes the whole question of waste storage from one creating an essentially permanent problem into one which can be actively managed.

THE OUTLOOK

While uranium reactor technology and uranium supply chains have continued to develop and proliferate globally, China is the first to revive this overlooked alternative. In so doing, it may gain not only energy security but also strategic leadership in a new domain of clean energy. Other nations including India, Norway and Denmark also have programs under way.

Looking ahead, the potential applications are far-reaching. As global electricity demand rises—with the electrification of transport, expansion of artificial intelligence, and rising energy needs in the developing world—scalable, safe nuclear power could become indispensable. In time, thorium reactors might be modularised and simplified—akin to the sealed systems found in nuclear submarines. Such reactors could power remote regions while avoiding the cost and environmental disruption of long-distance transmission lines. If modularisation succeeds, China could export these systems to developing nations lacking the expertise or infrastructure to manage conventional power plants. Their inherent safety and limited weaponisation risk could reduce many of the political and regulatory hurdles faced by today’s uranium reactors.

While enthusiasm for fusion continues, practical fusion reactors remain decades away—and their commercial viability is uncertain. Meanwhile, renewables face ongoing challenges related to intermittency, land use, and materials sourcing. Traditional nuclear power, though reliable, brings concerns about high upfront costs, public opposition, long-term waste, and proliferation risks. Thorium reactors are no silver bullet—but they may offer a politically and environmentally viable middle ground, one aligned with the urgent timelines of global decarbonisation.

Had the world taken this route decades ago, the global nuclear power industry might be very different. Without its association with WMD’s, accidents, contamination and waste, a far greater proportion of the world’s power demands may well have been supplied by nuclear generation. Perhaps even the climate itself might have looked very different today.