Capability-Snapshot-ADSMSA-26-25142.pdf
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- Solicitation number
- S-195186
- Issued by
-
Department of Energy
About this file
This is a Technology Licensing Opportunity document from Los Alamos National Laboratory's Richard P. Feynman Center for Innovation, presenting the Accelerator-Driven Sub-Critical Molten-Salt Assembly (ADS+MSA Facility) for licensing.
The ADS+MSA is a centralized nuclear facility that combines a high-power particle accelerator with a liquid molten-salt system to produce kilogram-scale quantities of tritium. The technology operates in a sub-critical configuration where nuclear reactions occur only when driven by the accelerator, ensuring inherent safety and operational control under existing Department of Energy safety frameworks rather than requiring NRC power-reactor licensing. Key advantages include eliminating the need for fusion plants to breed their own fuel, achieving extremely high tritium production efficiency with tritium breeding ratios exceeding those in fusion reactor blankets, and building on decades of proven accelerator development and industrial molten-salt system experience. The technology is currently at Technology Readiness Level 3-4 with a U.S. patent pending (IP Information S-195186). Market applications span fusion energy, nuclear waste management, advanced nuclear energy, government nuclear asset management, industrial energy and infrastructure, and clean energy decarbonization. Interested parties should contact licensing@lanl.gov for further information regarding this licensing opportunity.
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Richard P. Feynman Center for Innovation
Capability Snapshot
Overview The Accelerator-Driven Sub-Critical Molten-Salt Assembly (ADS+MSA) is a centralized nuclear facility that uses a high-power particle accelerator coupled to a liquid molten-salt system to reliably produce kilogram-scale quantities of tritium. Because the system is sub-critical, nuclear reactions only occur when driven by the accelerator, providing inherent safety and operational control. By combining proven accelerator technology with modern molten-salt chemistry, the ADS+MSA removes a major bottleneck to commercial fusion energy, recovers useful energy and strengthens U.S. energy security and national security missions under existing Department of Energy safety frameworks rather than commercial reactor licensing.
Advantages
• Enables large-scale commercial fusion energy by providing a reliable, centralized source of tritium, eliminating the need for fusion plants to breed their own fuel and significantly reducing cost, complexity, and deployment risk.
• Operates in an inherently safe, sub-critical configuration in which nuclear reactions stop when the accelerator is turned off, avoiding runaway scenarios and allowing operation under DOE accelerator safety orders rather than NRC power-reactor licensing.
• Achieves extremely high tritium production efficien-cy, with tritium breeding ratios far exceeding those achievable in fusion reactor blankets, enabling kilo-gram-scale production with substantially lower accel-erator power than earlier accelerator-only concepts.
• Builds on decades of proven accelerator development and growing industrial experience with molten-salt systems, reducing technical risk and enabling modular, scalable deployment as demand increases.
Market Applications
| • | Fusion Energy |
| • | Nuclear Waste Management |
| • | Advanced Nuclear Energy |
| • | Government Nuclear Asset Management |
| • | Industrial Energy and Infrastructure |
| • | Clean Energy and Decarbonization |
Accelerator-Driven Sub-Critical Molten-Salt Assembly (ADS+MSA Facility) Unlocking commercial fusion energy through reliable, centralized tritium supply
Value Proposition An accelerator-driven, sub-critical molten-salt nuclear system that centrally produces large quantities of tritium for fusion energy.
By pairing accelerator-driven subcritical operation with molten-salt chemistry, the system offers a controllable, safety-forward pathway to produce fusion fuel, recover useful energy and convert legacy nuclear liabilities into strategic energy assets.
Technology Readiness Level 3-4
IP Information for S-195186 U.S. Patent pending
Contact Information licensing@lanl.gov
An Equal Opportunity Employer / Managed by Triad National Security, LLC, for the U.S. Department of Energy’s NNSA
LA-UR-26-25142
Technology Licensing Opportunity
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File details come from the government source that posted it. Updated .