Editing Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor (section)

== Introduction ==

The '''Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor''' ('''LFTR''', pronounced "lifter") is a specific type of [[Molten Salt Reactor]] (MSR) that uses thorium dissolved in a fluoride salt mixture as its primary fuel, breeding uranium-233 internally to sustain the nuclear chain reaction. The term LFTR was coined and popularised in the early 2000s by Kirk Sorensen, a NASA aerospace engineer who rediscovered the original Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) research documents and began disseminating them online through his blog, ''Energy From Thorium''.

LFTRs differ from virtually all other power reactors in almost every fundamental characteristic: their fuel is liquid rather than solid; they operate at low pressure; they can be refuelled online without shutdown; and their inherent physical properties provide passive safety against meltdown.