A United States firm just got one step closer to realizing the development of a thorium reactor — using a 3D printer. The Florida-based advanced nuclear energy company AMPERA successfully fabricated a nuclear reactor module via additive manufacturing, which will serve as the basis for what the firm hopes will be the first thorium-powered nuclear power system that is entirely factory-built, subcritical, and solid-state. The next-generation core and pressure vessel, the company said, sets the foundation for mass-produced nuclear energy.
China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG) has put the world’s largest solar PV-plus-concentrated-solar hybrid into commercial trial operation in the Gobi Desert. The 1-gigawatt Hami project in Xinjiang stores the sun’s energy as heat in molten salt, letting it keep generating for up to eight hours after dark. While the Chinese facility uses salt for thermal storage, AMPERA's design aims to use thorium as fuel in a solid-state, subcritical reactor — contrasting with traditional molten salt reactors.
AMPERA's fabrication marks a step toward factory-built, scalable nuclear units that could lower construction costs and deployment timelines. The company did not disclose the module's dimensions or the specific metal alloy used in printing. The Hami project, meanwhile, represents the largest hybrid solar-thermal installation globally, combining photovoltaic panels with concentrated solar power (CSP) towers to extend dispatchability without lithium-ion batteries.
China's push into CSP with molten salt storage underscores its strategy to integrate intermittent renewables while reducing reliance on battery supply chains. For the US, AMPERA's thorium approach offers an alternative fuel cycle that promises less long-lived radioactive waste and no weapons-grade byproducts — though thorium reactors remain unproven at commercial scale. Neither project has disclosed a timeline for full commercial deployment.
Counter-argument: Critics note that thorium reactors have faced decades of technical hurdles, and AMPERA's printed module has not yet been tested in an operational reactor. Similarly, China's Hami hybrid plant's economics rely on government subsidies, and molten salt storage has higher parasitic energy losses than battery storage.
AI context: This brief was composed from two verified sources published within the last three hours — one on US thorium reactor progress (Oil Price) and one on China's Gobi solar-storage plant (Electrek). No additional external data or cross-referencing was available. Specific technical claims (e.g., reactor subcriticality, 8-hour storage) are drawn directly from the source text; no independent verification was performed.
Topics: [thorium reactor, 3D printing, molten salt storage, solar power]
Entities: [AMPERA, China Three Gorges Corporation, Hami project, Gobi Desert]