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Chinese scientists make nuclear power breakthrough using abandoned US research
A stable thorium reactor could help decarbonize energy production, while being less risky than conventional fission reactors.
For the first time ever, scientists in China have refueled an experimental nuclear reactor without shutting it down — a significant advance in weaning the world off fossil fuels and onto more efficient, low-carbon energy sources Once funneled inside the reactor chamber, this mixture is heated to temperatures above 1,112 Fahrenheit (600 degrees Celsius) and bombarded with high-energy neutrons, causing the thorium to form uranium-233 atoms that split and release energy via nuclear fission. Several groups have attempted to make viable thorium reactors since then, but the element's weak radioactivity made it difficult to build fission reactions up to sustainable levels.
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