Chinese researchers have completed the world’s first thorium-to-uranium nuclear fuel conversion in a molten-salt reactor, making it the only operational reactor of its kind loaded with thorium fuel. The milestone also boosted the shares of equipment suppliers involved in the project.

The Thorium Molten Salt Reactor, developed by the Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences in collaboration with institutions in northwestern Gansu province, demonstrates the technical feasibility of using thorium in a molten-salt nuclear energy system, SINAP announced on Nov. 1.