Chinese scientists have completed a major breakthrough in clean energy by reloading fresh fuel into a working thorium molten salt reactor.

They did this while the reactor continued running, marking a significant step forward in the global push to use thorium as a safer and more abundant alternative to uranium in nuclear power.

The milestone was revealed at a closed-door meeting on April 8 at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), where project chief scientist Xu Hongjie shared the news with colleagues.