Editing Breeder reactor (section)

===Thermal breeder reactor===
[[File:Shippingport Reactor.jpg|thumb|The Shippingport Reactor, used as a prototype light water breeder for five years beginning in August 1977]]

The [[advanced heavy-water reactor]] is one of the few proposed large-scale uses of thorium.<ref>{{cite web |title=Thorium |url=http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf62.html#b |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120419180325/http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf62.html#b |archive-date=19 April 2012 |access-date=14 June 2012}}</ref> India is developing this technology, motivated by substantial thorium reserves; almost a third of the world's thorium reserves are in India, which lacks significant uranium reserves.

The third and final core of the [[Shippingport Atomic Power Station]] 60&nbsp;MWe reactor was a light water thorium breeder, which began operating in 1977.<ref>{{cite web |title=Shippingport Atomic Power Station: A National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark |url=https://www.asme.org/wwwasmeorg/media/resourcefiles/aboutasme/who%20we%20are/engineering%20history/landmarks/47-shippingport-nuclear-power-station.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071129121016/http://files.asme.org/ASMEORG/Communities/History/Landmarks/5643.pdf |archive-date=29 November 2007}}</ref> It used pellets made of [[thorium dioxide]] and uranium-233 oxide; initially, the U-233 content of the pellets was 5–6% in the seed region, 1.5–3% in the blanket region, and none in the reflector region. It operated at 236&nbsp;MWt, generating 60&nbsp;MWe, and ultimately produced over 2.1 billion kilowatt hours of electricity. After five years, the core was removed and found to contain nearly 1.4% more fissile material than when it was installed, demonstrating that breeding from thorium had occurred.<ref>{{cite web |last=Adams |first=Rod |date=October 1, 1995 |title=Light Water Breeder Reactor: Adapting A Proven System |url=https://atomicinsights.com/light-water-breeder-reactor-adapting-proven-system/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121028194257/http://atomicinsights.com/1995/10/light-water-breeder-reactor-adapting-proven-system.html |archive-date=28 October 2012 |access-date=2 October 2012}}</ref><ref>[http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf62.html Thorium] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120419180325/http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf62.html|date=19 April 2012}} information from the [[World Nuclear Association]]</ref>

A [[liquid fluoride thorium reactor]] is also planned as a thorium thermal breeder. Liquid-fluoride reactors may have attractive features, such as inherent safety, no need to manufacture fuel rods, and possibly simpler reprocessing of the liquid fuel. This concept was first investigated at the [[Oak Ridge National Laboratory]] [[Molten-Salt Reactor Experiment]] in the 1960s. From 2012 it became the subject of renewed interest worldwide.<ref>{{cite news |last=Stenger |first=Victor |author-link=Victor J Stenger |date=12 January 2012 |title=LFTR: A Long-Term Energy Solution? |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/victor-stenger/lftr-a-longterm-energy-so_b_1192584.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161222022144/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/victor-stenger/lftr-a-longterm-energy-so_b_1192584.html |archive-date=22 December 2016 |access-date=30 September 2012 |work=Huffington Post}}</ref>