Flibe Energy

Flibe Energy is an American company that intends to design, construct, and operate small modular reactors based on liquid fluoride thorium reactor (acronym LFTR; pronounced lifter) technology.
Corporation
Flibe Energy was founded on April 6, 2011 by , former NASA aerospace engineer and formerly chief nuclear technologist at Teledyne Brown Engineering, and Kirk Dorius, an intellectual property attorney and mechanical engineer. The name "Flibe" comes from FLiBe, a salt of and , used in LFTRs. Flibe Energy Incorporated is registered in the State of Delaware. Their advertising slogan is "LFTR by Flibe Energy, powering the next thousand years"
LFTR Design
Presenting at the October 2011 Thorium Energy Conference, Sorensen described how various factors influence design for small modular reactors.
Neutron temperature requirements of different fissile materials:
* U-235 and Th-232/U-233 work most efficiently with thermal spectrum neutrons (<1 eV)
* U-238/Pu-239 requires fast spectrum neutrons (>100,000 eV) to sustain breeding
Operating temperature ("Moderate" defined as 250-350 °C versus "High" defined as 700-1000 °C) and pressure ("Atmospheric" versus "High") is related to coolant type; there are four, one for each temperature/pressure combination:
* Water: Moderate Temperature, High Pressure (e.g. B&W mPower, NuScale, Westinghouse, IRIS, KLT-40S)
* Gas: High Temperature, High Pressure (e.g. PBMR, GT-MHR, EM2)
* Liquid Metal: Moderate Temperature, Atmospheric Pressure (e.g. Hyperion, Toshiba 4S, GE PRISM)
* Liquid Salt: High Temperature, Atmospheric Pressure (e.g. LFTR)
Various conclusions about the three nuclear fuels and possible reactor types were then drawn:
* Also in 2018, a report by Sandia National Laboratories was published to develop a safeguards model for Molten Salt Reactors in order to better understand the safeguards needed for this type of system. The work performed for the report was "specifically focused on modeling liquid-fueled designs with on-site processing" and cited the LFTR design from Flibe Energy as 'the most mature concept in this category."
Flibe Energy reactor
An independent technology assessment coordinated with EPRI and Southern Company represents the most detailed information so far publicly available about Flibe Energy's proposed LFTR design.
Low pressure,
* 600 MWth reactor, 250 MWe net electricity output
* Two fluid reactor, graphite moderated, Hastelloy-N construction
* Passive nuclear safety features
** Fail-safe freeze valve and drain tank
** Negative temperature coefficient - As demonstrated by an accident at MSRE, a "run away" reaction inherently stops far (several hundred °C) below the melting temperature of the structure/pipes/pumps/valves.
** The fuel being dissolved in FLiBe makes curtailment of fission easy. Any mechanism (including damage) which drains the FLiBe away from the reactor core will leave the (solid) graphite moderator behind, hence the fuel no longer capable of sustaining fission. Even an overheated reactor would remain far (several hundred °C) cooler than the melting temperature of the graphite moderator or reactor chamber.
** Control rods - also actively actuatable
* Primary & intermediate salt loop heat exchangers
* Chemical processing - Move uranium from blanket to fuel salt and remove fission products
* Off-gas handling for Xe,Kr, tritium
Initial plan
In the 12 May 2011 "Introduction to Flibe Energy" with Sorensen and Dorius, an interview of Sorensen from 28 May 2011 and another from 14 July 2011, the creation of LFTRs was discussed.
"The real challenge will be getting to the first unit." — Kirk Sorensen per watt, making it competitive with the construction costs of natural gas plants.
Applications
At its most basic level, the function of a LFTR is to act as a source of thermal energy (colloquially: heat). The ability to harness this energy for useful and interesting work is only limited by the laws of thermodynamics and the imagination. Specific examples of other LFTR applications cited by Sorensen:
* Desalination, the conversion of salt water into fresh water, using the waste heat from electricity generation
* Carbon-neutral synthetic fuel production
Military
Flibe Energy has expressed interest in working with the US Armed Services, which have an independent nuclear regulatory authority. Accelerated military development and demonstration can speed later deployment for civilian power production by providing extended materials and operational data to inform civilian reactor licensing through the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Many domestic military installations are dependent on surrounding vulnerable local power grids and the US Army would like its bases to have self-sufficient power generation capability (described as "base islanding"), which a LFTR could provide. Presenting at the Thorium Energy Conference on 10 October 2011, Sorensen further described how the US military needs a "remote source of power" in the form of "small rugged reactors" (SRR) "capable of operating in dangerous and remote areas" and how Flibe Energy is initially developing a "SRR LFTR" to meet that need, as it would be portable and easy to assemble/disassemble, obviating vulnerable refueling convoys.
* There had been little innovation in the field for several decades until recent developments by advanced reactor developers. The US Department of Energy has claimed a "new wave of innovation" is here for advanced reactor development.
* The differences between LFTRs and the light-water reactors in majority use today are vast; the former "is not yet fully understood by regulatory agencies and officials." (note NRC mention )
In addition, this reactor may require parts different from existing reactors, making them more expensive.
Kirk Sorensen
Flibe Energy co-founder Kirk Sorensen has a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Utah State University, a master's degree in aerospace engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and a master's degree in nuclear engineering from the University of Tennessee. He worked at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center from 2000 to 2010, followed by a year at Teledyne Brown Engineering in Huntsville, Alabama as Chief Nuclear Technologist until he left to found Flibe Energy in 2011.
He has discussed the potential of thorium and LFTR technology for The Guardian's 2009 Manchester Report on climate change mitigation, and the TEDxYYC conference in 2011.
Sorensen was written about in the book SuperFuel and appears in the documentaries Thorium Remix 2011, The Thorium Dream as well as being credited in the upcoming "film about thorium" titled The Good Reactor.

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