A United States firm just got one step closer to realizing the development of a thorium reactor – using a 3D printer. The Florida-based advanced nuclear energy company AMPERA successfully fabricated a nuclear reactor module using a 3D printer, which will serve as the basis for what the firm hopes will be the first thorium-powered nuclear power system that is entirely factory-built, subcritical, and solid-state. “This next-generation nuclear core and pressure vessel sets the foundation for factory-built, mass-produced nuclear energy,”…