Thermal- and fast-spectrum molten salt reactors for actinide burning and fuel production

Conference · Sun Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 2007

OSTI ID:20979686

Forsberg, Charles W ^[1]

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1. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, P.O. Box 2008, Oak Ridge, TN 37831 (United States)

In a molten salt reactor (MSR), the fuel is dissolved in a fluoride salt coolant. The technology was partly developed in the 1950's and 1960's. With changing goals for advanced reactors and new technologies, there is currently a renewed interest in MSRs. The new technologies include (1) Brayton power cycles (rather than steam cycles) that eliminate many of the historical challenges in building MSRs and (2) the conceptual development of several fast-spectrum MSRs that have large negative temperature and void coefficients, a unique safety characteristic not found in solid-fuel fast reactors. Earlier MSRs were thermal-neutron-spectrum reactors. Compared with solid-fueled reactors, MSR systems have lower fissile inventories, no radiation damage constraint on attainable fuel burnup, no spent nuclear fuel, no requirement to fabricate and handle solid fuel, and a single isotopic composition of fuel in the reactor. These and other characteristics may enable MSRs to have potentially unique capabilities and competitive economics for actinide burning and extending fuel resources. The status, unique characteristics, and recent worldwide advances in MSRs are described. (author)

• Research Organization: American Nuclear Society, 555 North Kensington Avenue, La Grange Park, IL 60526 (United States)
• OSTI ID: 20979686
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
ACTINIDES
BURNUP
COOLANTS
ECONOMICS
FAST REACTORS
FLUORIDES
INVENTORIES
ISOTOPE RATIO
MOLTEN SALT REACTORS
MOLTEN SALTS
SAFETY
SOLID FUELS
SPENT FUELS
THERMAL NEUTRONS
VOID COEFFICIENT