China has granted a 10-year operating license to a 2 megawatt thorium-powered molten salt reactor, located in the Gobi Desert and operated by the Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics. The molten salt serves as both fuel and coolant. Thorium is far more plentiful than fissile uranium-235, and Chinese known reserves are estimated to be sufficient to power the country for 20,000 years.
Construction began in earnest in 2018, and wrapped up in 2021. It took two years for regulators to finalize their safety approval for operation, reports South China Morning Post.
