MSR Proliferation Resistance and Physical Protection White Paper

Technical Report · Thu Mar 19 04:00:00 EDT 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1718987· OSTI ID:1718987

Holcomb, D. ^[1]; Cipiti, Benjamin B. ^[1]; Cheng, L. ^[1]; Igantiev, V. ^[1]; van der Ende, B. ^[1]; Edwards, G. ^[1]

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1. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

Molten Salt Reactors (MSRs) have seen a resurgence of interest in the past decade around the world. Support for these activities is provided from both national and private sources. The largest difference from the 2011 GIF MSR PR&PP evaluation consequently is the transition from evaluating academic systems focused on exploring the technical potential of MSRs to those of companies and countries focusing on near-term deployment. A wide variety of designs currently exist ranging from solid to liquid-fueled designs, with salt processing on-site or off-site, and a variety of fuel choices. As such, the proliferation resistance and physical protection aspects will have significantly more variation depending on reactor design than the other advanced reactors. The rapid introduction and evolution of innovative MSR designs inevitably means that technology specific details of overview reports, such as this one, become rapidly outdated. Consequently, this report focuses on essential features required for any MSR rather than specific design aspects.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE)
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-94AL85000; NA0003525
• OSTI ID: 1718987
• Report Number(s): SAND--2020-12162R; 692320
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS