---
title: Federal Molten-Salt Coolant Arrives for a Texas Reactor Under Construction
description: Natura Resources says the US Department of Energy sent FLiBE salt for its MSR-1 demonstration reactor in Texas, a milestone still years from grid power.
author: Darie Nani (Editor-in-Chief)
date: 2026-09-20T13:00:35.048Z
updated: 2026-09-20T13:00:35.057Z
canonical: https://www.sovereignmagazine.com/article/natura-msr-1-flibe-molten-salt-coolant-doe
image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/acu-next-lab-molten-salt-5273.webp
categories: Science & Tech
content_type: Analysis
region: United States
publication: Sovereign Magazine
access: members
schema_type: Article
---

Natura Resources says it has received a batch of molten-salt coolant from the US Department of Energy for the reactor it is constructing at Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas. The company says the salt arrived on Friday, September 18, 2026, sent from the department's Oak Ridge National Laboratory and delivered through Idaho National Laboratory. It is destined for the MSR-1, a one-megawatt thermal demonstration reactor, and it is one of the first physical inputs to reach a reactor of a kind US regulators had not licensed in decades.

The material is FLiBE, a fluoride salt of lithium and beryllium that carries and cools the fuel in a molten-salt reactor rather than water. Natura says the batch contains lithium enriched to 99.99% lithium-7, which it says minimizes the amount of tritium the salt generates in operation. The company says it was chosen to receive the salt through a competitive DOE solicitation that Idaho National Laboratory ran, issued in August 2025.

## The Salt Is Enriched Lithium-7, a Supply Input the US Stopped Making at Scale

---

*This article is only available to registered readers. Visit the article URL to read the full piece.*