Natura receives Oak Ridge's 1960s FLiBE salt for its Abilene reactor
Natura Resources said on September 18, 2026 that it received FLiBE salt from DOE's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, via Idaho National Laboratory, for the MSR-1 reactor being built at Abilene Christian University; the release says the salt contains 99.99% enriched lithium-7 and that Natura was selected through a competitive DOE solicitation issued in August 2025. ANS reports more than 2 metric tons, the secondary coolant of the 1965 to 1969 Molten Salt Reactor Experiment, now to be the primary constituent of the reactor's fuel salt. The NRC issued the construction permit on September 16, 2024.
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