Project Lead: Diego Macias
Molten salt reactors (MSRs) are an advanced reactor design that uses salts to operate at higher temperatures, than typical light water reactors, allowing for MSRs to be more efficient in generating energy. Oak Ridge National Laboratory demonstrated this reactor design during the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE) where a MSR using FLiBe (LiF, BeF2) and UF4 generated 70,000 MWh during its 4-year operation as a proof of concept. The MSRE highlighted the need for a better understanding of what happens to the structural materials under the conditions present in an MSR. Corrosion, high temperatures and fuel conditions present in an MSR have been studied in mostly static conditions but MSRs are flowing systems and this flow adds mechanisms that are not present in static conditions. This project will be investigating how fissile material acts in a pumped molten salt loop and where it deposits. Others area of interest for this project are how different flow rates and operating temperatures affect fuel behavior, corrosion, and mechanical performance
