Erica Rush

Environmental Chemistry

CHEM-3530

26 April 2021

Molten Salt Reactors

With the issues the world faces regarding climate change in present day, questions arise

as to how civilization can work to combat the environmental destructiveness it causes. Energy

production in every country contributes to the greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere,

worsening the effects of climate change. Nuclear power has been studied throughout history as a

means for defense mechanisms with only recently as a means for peaceful energy production.

With new technologies and safety mechanisms for reactor fleets, nuclear power needs to be

considered as a major contributor to combat climate change effects. With little to no carbon

emissions and the ability to reprocess spent fuels, molten salt reactors should be on the forefront

of decision making when deciding how to move forward with greener energy production. High

energy capacity levels and little radiation emission show that the only way to have green energy

is to go nuclear.

Nuclear energy is created by the splitting of atoms which release large amounts of energy

when their nuclei are broken down. Certain isotopes of elements can be split, and the energy

released will be in the form of heat. The splitting of an atom is called nuclear fission. The heat

released can then be utilized by man and generated into electricity. The most common isotope

used as fuel is Uranium-235 (U-235) which fissions very easily. During the process, U-235

absorbs loose neutrons and becomes unstable then split into lighter atoms described as fission
products. When the energy is released as heat, more neutrons are released with the heat leading

to collisions with other atoms which causes further fission. This process can be described as a

chain reaction and if enough uranium atoms are combined within the right conditions, a self-

sustaining chain reaction will occur, releasing enormous amounts of heat. Nuclear powerplants

utilize this energy to heat water into steam, which then turns turbines to generate electricity (le

Brun, 2007).

Nuclear energy can be dated back to the 1930s, where nuclear research was mainly

focused on the development of defense weapons before and during World War II and the Cold

War, where researchers discovered the potential for energy production through the splitting of

atoms. Fission was discovered in Rome in 1934 by physicist Enrico Fermi who created the first

self-sustaining chain reaction. Bombarding uranium with neutrons, Fermi discovered that the

sum of mass of the products were much lighter than that of uranium. In 1938, German scientists

Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman bombarded uranium with radium and beryllium and concluded

that the sum of mass of the products were lighter than that of uranium. Barium was found as a

leftover material which has about half of the atomic mass of uranium. Using Albert Einstein’s

theory that relates mass and energy, E = mc2, it was discovered that the loss of mass in the

products converted to energy, proving fission and confirming Einstein’s theory (LeBlanc, 2010).

A major goal of nuclear research in the 1950s was to show that peaceful use of nuclear energy

was possible for civilian usage. The Atomic Energy Commission was created by Congress in

1946 and authorized construction of the first Experimental Breeder Reactor in Idaho. This

reactor produced electricity for the first time on December 20, 1951. Research into molten salt

reactors (MSR) was started for the U.S. aircraft reactor experiment (ARE) which supported the

U.S. Nuclear Propulsion program. The ARE successfully operated a high-temperature MSR for
100 hours with temperatures ranging up to 860 ºC, which powered up to 2.5 MWt. Molten

fluoride salt was utilized as the fuel rather than U-235, moderated by beryllium oxide and cooled

using liquid sodium. This operation showed that the fission product UF 4 was chemically stable

within the solvent and gaseous products were removed automatically through the circulation

pumping of the salt. The reactor could easily be started and stopped without the use of control

rods and the fuel was found to have a strong negative temperature coefficient(Serp et al., 2014).

Self-regulating reactors are possible using molten salts as fuels due to the fact that liquid expands

when it is heated. This will slow down the rate of nuclear reactions. MSRs are within a class of

fission reactors where the primary coolant or the fuel is a molten salt mixture which allows the

reactor to run at much higher temperatures compared to light water reactors. They operate at near

atmospheric pressure and have high volumetric heat capacities and high boiling points. Fissile

elements such as UF4 and PuF3 or fertile elements like ThF4 are dissolved in the molten fluoride

salt coolant and fission occurs within the salt, where it then flows to a heat exchanger to transfer

the heat to a secondary liquid-salt coolant. Due to the operation performance at low pressure and

liquid-salt coolants, MSRs can offer safer, more efficient and sustainable forms of nuclear power

where steam explosions are impossible.

Development of MSRs was halted several decades ago due to competition from liquid

metal fast breeder reactors (LMFBR) using uranium-plutonium cycles which have a larger

breeding rate where there are more neutrons per fission and less loss of neutrons. Reduction of

potential reactors along with the fast breeder reactors were used as arguments to slow and

ultimately stop the development and research into MSRs(Moir, 2008). Instead of using the

reactors as a backup plan for electricity production, little work has been done to improve

knowledge on molten salt reactors in the last three decades. With these arguments and the belief
that uranium supplies were low with fast rising electricity needs, LMFBRs were the winners of

the competition. It was then proven that uranium resources actually were larger than originally

thought and the electricity needs were smaller than predicted causing fast breeding rates to not be

essential for energy production (Moir, 2008).

Research has again started into the possibility of a new generation of nuclear reactors,

Generation IV, which includes six reactor types with one being molten salt reactors. Advanced

Fuel Cycle Initiative is a program created with the goal of separating fission products and

recycling waste for further fission production (Moir, 2008). The core of a nuclear reactor

produces a large amount of heat in a limited volume which needs to be transported out quickly.

Very few fluids have the capacity to allow for a rapid transfer of heat to the heat exchanger and

molten salts have the most appealing characteristics when it comes to heat capacity, boiling

points, vapor pressure, transparency, and radiation insensitivity. Molten salts do not require

pressurization as gases do to acquire a large heat capacity. High temperatures are needed for

conversion cycles to produce hydrogen or electricity which molten salts allow as their boiling

points can reach up to over 1000º C. Gas creation and chemical property transformations are

prevented due to the radiation insensitivity that molten salts have (le Brun, 2007).

Some potential applications for molten salt nuclear reactors include salt loops for high

temperature heat transfer, liquid coolant in solid fuel reactors, liquid fuel reactors, and

reprocessing of spent fuels by pyro-reprocessing methods. Reactors that require the highest

temperatures designed for hydrogen production have designs including has coolants which do

not have very good potential for long distance heat transfer. The promising characteristics of

molten salt and their thermodynamic properties are the best candidates for this type of heat

transfer. Due to the fact that molten salts are able to sustain very high temperatures, molten
fluorides can replace liquid metal or gas coolants with no limitations on temperature or pressure

as they do not have to be pressurized. Thermal molten salt reactors with uranium-thorium cycles

are being considered as reactor types because it can potentially solve the high temperature and

high-pressure problems that many breeder reactors face. As the salts are much less sensitive to

radiation than typical fuels are, pyro-reprocessing of the spent fuels is an appealing solution to

fuel reprocessing for future nuclear energy production (le Brun, 2007).

235
As U is the only fissile element naturally available, nuclear energy production has only
235 232
been based on the use of U. Studies have shown that fertile Th is another potential for

nuclear core fuel. Thorium cycles have a lower production of actinides which greatly contribute

to radiotoxicity of spent fuel. Future studies of molten salt reactors have been distinguished as

five categories including design and safety, reactor physics, fuel salt chemistry, material-

mechanics, and fuel salt clean-up. Emphasis has been put on thorium-uranium fueled reactors as

it has the simplest design and reprocessing has been simplified as much as possible (le Brun,

2007).

Another appealing characteristic of nuclear energy in general is that it has the highest

capacity factor for producing energy. On average, nuclear power plants are operating and

producing at maximum power 93% of the time. In the United States in 2016, the nuclear fleet

was operating at full power on 336 out of 365 days per year. The remaining 29 days with no

operation were only due to them being taken off the grid for maintenance. These plants generated

almost 20% of all of U.S electricity. In comparison, hydro-electric systems were delivering their

power 138 days per year, wind turbines 127 days per year, and solar fields only 92 days per year.

These figures put nuclear energy at 1.5-2 times more reliable than natural gas and coal units and

up to 2.5-3 times greater than wind and solar plants (M., Richardson). Nuclear plants put little to
no carbon emissions into the atmosphere, and with the studies being done on spent fuel

reprocessing, nuclear energy must be a candidate in combatting climate change. Molten salt

reactors can potentially solve the radioactive waste problem as up to 95% of thorium waste is

able to be recycled. New technologies being developed have made the radioactive waste problem

no longer a problem. Wastes that are not able to be recycled can be encased safely in

impenetrable concrete and steel dry casks. Radioactive waste can also be vitrified into glass

through thermal remediation methods encasing the radioactive material to be either store or

dumped into the ocean where radiation levels can slowly decline.

When being compared to the amount of radiation being emitted into the atmosphere, nuclear

power plants win the competition every time. The worst radioactive producer is coal, which

produces fly ask and is released into the environment. There are safety concerns with nuclear

power plants due to the near disaster of Three-Mile Island in Pennsylvania and the complete

meltdowns of Chernobyl in Ukraine and more recently Fukushima in Japan. Again, molten salt

reactors can potentially solve this issue as they do operate at near atmospheric pressure and use

molten salts rather than water reducing steam explosions to near impossible. With more and

more research being done into the safety mechanisms of the future generation of nuclear power,

possible accidents can be reduced. Nuclear accidents are actually proven to be less destructive

than any other industrial accident on record. The radiation released into the environment through

the partial meltdown of Three-Mile Island is less than what a typical person can expect to be

exposed to with a chest x-ray (M., Richardson). Studies into the Chernobyl disaster show that

there really are no long-term health effects to populations exposed to the fallout except for

thyroid cancers found in Belarus in people who were children at the time of the accident and
131
were exposed, those who drank I contaminated milk, and those who did not evacuate. These
 numbers compared to the industrial disaster in Bhopal, India, where 3,800 people died instantly

with thousands more ill when 40 tons of methyl isocyanate gas was released from a pesticide

plant indicate that even the most disastrous outcome of a nuclear power plant proves to be less

destructive (M., Richardson).

References

le Brun, C. (2007). Molten salts and nuclear energy production. Journal of Nuclear Materials, 360(1
SPEC. ISS.). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2006.08.017
LeBlanc, D. (2010). Molten salt reactors: A new beginning for an old idea. Nuclear Engineering and
Design, 240(6). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2009.12.033
M., Richardson, H., Richardson, H., Mingle, J., Mingle, J., . . . Gardiner, B. (n.d.). Why nuclear
power must be part of the energy solution. Retrieved April 24, 2021, from
https://e360.yale.edu/features/why-nuclear-power-must-be-part-of-the-energy-solution-
environmentalists-climate
Moir, R. W. (2008). Recommendations for a restart of molten salt reactor development. Energy
Conversion and Management, 49(7). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2007.07.047
Serp, J., Allibert, M., Beneš, O., Delpech, S., Feynberg, O., Ghetta, V., Heuer, D., Holcomb, D.,
Ignatiev, V., Kloosterman, J. L., Luzzi, L., Merle-Lucotte, E., Uhlíř, J., Yoshioka, R., & Zhimin,
D. (2014). The molten salt reactor (MSR) in generation IV: Overview and perspectives.
Progress in Nuclear Energy, 77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pnucene.2014.02.014