Can nuclear supply green steel and cement?

September 18, 2024, 7:30AMNuclear NewsJames Conca
The NEXT Lab at ACU has been built to house and test the university’s new molten salt reactor design. (Photo: Rusty Towell/ACU)

I really think so. Especially after visiting Abilene Christian University’s new Dillard Science and Engineering Research Center, the home of the Nuclear Energy Experimental Testing (NEXT) Lab and where the university will test its new molten salt research reactor design. The visit was part of the 12th Thorium Energy Alliance Conference. NEXT Lab director and program manager Rusty Towell anticipates that the research reactor will be operational in two years, and I believe it will. What was most impressive is that the reactor is suited to be scaled to any size from small to large—a key feature in any decarbonized world.

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