Southern Company, TerraPower and CORE POWER Begin Salt Operations of Integrated Effects Test

Southern Company, TerraPower, and CORE POWER have successfully started pumped-salt operations in the Integrated Effects Test (IET), signifying a major achievement in the development of Generation-IV molten salt reactor technology, namely TerraPower's first-of-a-kind Molten Chloride Fast Reactor (MCFR).

Since installation of the IET at TerraPower's laboratory in Everett, Washington, the project team has completed mechanical, electrical and controls verification and commissioned all systems. Commissioning employed hot argon and chloride salts to confirm readiness, including filling and flushing of drain tanks and verifying operation of freeze valves – a unique and important component for salt systems. Chloride salt has now been loaded into the primary coolant salt loops and pumped-salt operations have begun. A multi-month test campaign will provide valuable salt operations data and know-how for the MCFR program.

Integrated Effects Test

The IET is a nonnuclear, externally heated, up to 1-megawatt multiloop system – the world's largest chloride salt system developed by the nuclear sector – and culminates years of separate effects testing. The project was initiated by Southern Company and TerraPower under the U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Reactor Concepts (ARC-15) award, a multiyear effort to promote the design, construction, and operation of Generation-IV nuclear reactors. The project team also includes CORE POWER, EPRI, Idaho National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Vanderbilt University.

The next generation of nuclear reactors promise the same stable value to customers that is derived from the current operating nuclear fleet, can complement intermittent renewable resources on the grid, and hold the potential to provide zero-carbon, high-grade process heat and thermal storage for energy-intensive industrial markets and ocean transportation sectors that currently rely on fossil fuels.

The IET will inform the design, licensing, and operation of an approximately 180-megawatt MCFR demonstration planned for the early 2030s time frame.