The NB-36 made a number of flights in the 1950s carrying an
operating nuclear reactor. The crew worked from a lead-shielded
cockpit. As America’s nuclear renaissance matures, proponents of
molten-salt reactors (MSRs) increasingly expect the focus to
shift their way, to a much simpler design. That design
translates into lower capital costs, speedier construction, and
fewer potential operating risks. Together they point to the
likelihood of less-grueling regulatory processes for approvals
and operating licenses, if and when MSRs get that far. Not
everyone is content to wait for the spotlight to shift. A small
Canadian company, Ottawa Valley Research Associates Ltd., (OVRA)
has filed for a broad MSR patent in the U.S. and
internationally. The applications cover a redesign in reactor
piping that addresses some long-standing technical problems. The
applications were filed by David LeBlanc, principal of OVRA and
a physics researcher at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ont.,
Canada. The patent applications are to prot