Thorcon International Pte Ltd, a United States-based nuclear company, has partnered with the Indonesian Defense Ministry for a study to develop a 50 MW thorium molten salt reactor (TMSR). Under the partnership, Thorcon will provide technical advice for the Research & Development team of the Defense Ministry.
The reactor is expected to be operational by 2025 and will be used for either power generation or marine vehicle propulsion.
On top of this cooperation, Thorcon has been working with the government to build a 500 MW nuclear power plant. The Ministry of Energy completed a study of the safety, economics, and grid impact of the 500 MW prototype in 2019. The project will consist in 2 phases: Phase 1 is to build and test it with step by step commissioning, ending in a license for future power plants; Phase 2 is shipyard production of multiple Thorcon plants to provide an additional 3 GW of electric power. The shipyard will be ThorCon’s EPC (engineering, procurement, construction) contractor.
Besides working with the United States on nuclear development, Indonesia has also received a proposal from Russia. Rosatom, a Russia’s state nuclear corporation, is offering to develop the first Southeast Asia’s nuclear power plant in West Kalimantan, on the island of Borneo.
(Sources: Jakarta Post; Nuclear Engineering International Magazine; Neutron Bytes)
