China becomes first to transmute thorium into uranium for nuclear fission

China's thorium molten salt reactor has become the first in the world to transmute thorium fuel into uranium fuel for nuclear fission.

Key physical parameter data of protactinium-233 confirms the successful establishment of a nuclide conversion chain from thorium-232 to uranium-233 within the reactor. The milestone preliminarily verifies the technical feasibility of the thorium fuel cycle and further consolidates China's leading position in molten salt reactor research.

The 2-megawatt thermal liquid-fueled thorium molten salt reactor, led by the Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is situated in the Hongshagang industrial cluster in Minqin county, administered by Wuwei city, Gansu province.