Molten Salt Reactors and Thorium Energy Related titles HandbookofSmallNuclearReactors (ISBN:978-0-85709-851-1) MoltenSaltsChemistry: FromLabtoApplications (ISBN:978-0-12-398538-5) SmallModularReactors: FadorFuture (ISBN:978-0-08-100252-0) Woodhead Publishing Series in Energy Molten Salt Reactors and Thorium Energy Edited by Thomas J. Dolan WoodheadPublishingisanimprintofElsevier TheOfficers’MessBusinessCentre,RoystonRoad,Duxford,CB224QH,UnitedKingdom 50HampshireStreet,5thFloor,Cambridge,MA02139,UnitedStates TheBoulevard,LangfordLane,Kidlington,OX51GB,UnitedKingdom Copyright©2017ElsevierLtd.Allrightsreserved. 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BritishLibraryCataloguing-in-PublicationData AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData AcatalogrecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheLibraryofCongress ISBN:978-0-08-101126-3(print) ISBN:978-0-08-101243-7(online) ForinformationonallWoodheadPublishingpublications visitourwebsiteathttps://www.elsevier.com/books-and-journals Publisher:JoeHayton AcquisitionEditor:MariaConvey EditorialProjectManager:CharlotteKent ProductionProjectManager:DebasishGhosh Designer:MattLimbert TypesetbyMPSLimited,Chennai,India Vision Weenvisionaworldwherealmosteverycountryhasaffordablemoltensaltreactors burning thorium, uranium, and spent fuel actinides, producing electricity, hydrogen, anddesalinizedwaterwithnoseriousaccidents. Thispageintentionallyleftblank Contents ListofContributors xvii Preface xxiii 1 Introduction 1 ThomasJ.Dolan 1.1 NeedforMSR 1 1.2 MSRoriginandresearchcurtailment 2 1.3 MSRactivities 3 1.4 Fissilefuels 4 1.5 Thoriumfueladvantages 5 1.6 LiquidfuelMSR 6 1.7 AdvantagesofliquidfuelMSR 7 1.8 MSRdevelopmentissues 10 1.9 Tritiumissues 11 References 12 2 Electricityproduction 13 LindsayDempsey,CharlesForsbergandThomasJ.Dolan 2.1 Heatengines 13 2.2 Rankinecycles 15 2.3 HeliumBraytoncycles 16 2.4 SupercriticalCO Braytoncycles 18 2 2.5 Metalvaporcombinedcycles 20 2.6 NuclearairBraytonpowercycles 20 2.7 Summary 27 References 27 3 Chemicalfundamentalsandapplicationsofmoltensalts 29 StephenBoydandChristopherTaylor 3.1 Introduction 30 3.2 Fundamentalphysicochemical propertiesofmoltensalts 30 3.3 Remotepowersources 45 3.4 Heatexchangersandmaterialsembrittlementchallenges 55 3.5 High-temperaturecommercialapplications 60 3.6 Actinideburning 68 3.7 Medicalisotopes 73 viii Contents 3.8 Desalination 74 3.9 Opticalapplications 80 3.10 Summaryandconclusions 80 Acknowledgment 82 References 82 FurtherReading 90 4 ReactorphysicsofMSR 93 YoichiroShimazu 4.1 Introduction 93 4.2 Interactionofneutronswithmatter 93 4.3 Multiplicationfactorofchainreactions 95 4.4 Cross-sections 95 4.5 Reactionrate 96 4.6 Neutronenergydistributionandmaxwell(cid:1)bolzmanndistribution 96 4.7 Transportanddiffusionofneutrons 98 4.8 Criticalityequation 101 4.9 Kineticequations 104 4.10 MonteCarlomethod 107 4.11 Conclusion 108 References 109 5 Kinetics,dynamics,andneutronnoiseinstationaryMSRs 111 ImrePa´zsitandVictorDykin 5.1 Introduction 111 5.2 TheMSRmodel 113 5.3 Thestaticequations 114 5.4 Space(cid:1)time-dependenttransientduringstart-up 125 5.5 Dynamicequationsinthefrequencydomain:neutronnoise 140 5.6 Thepointkineticapproximationandthepointkineticcomponent 148 5.7 TheneutronnoiseinanMSR,inducedbypropagatingperturbations 159 5.8 Conclusions 164 Acknowledgment 164 References 164 6 Thermalhydraulicsofliquid-fueledMSRs 167 LelioLuzzi,AntonioCammi,ValentinoDiMarcelloandAlessandroPini 6.1 Introduction 167 6.2 Preliminaryapproachtothermo-hydraulicsofinternallyheated moltensalts 168 6.3 Heattransferandpressurelosses 173 6.4 Effectsofinternalheatgenerationonnaturalcirculationstability 178 6.5 Conclusions 184 Acknowledgments 184 Contents ix Abbreviations 185 References 185 7 Materials 189 RitsuoYoshioka,MotoyasuKinoshitaandIanScott 7.1 Moltensalt 189 7.2 Solidfuelswithmoltensaltcoolants 193 7.3 Thoriumfuelcycle 194 7.4 Moderators 194 7.5 Structural materials 199 7.6 Conclusions 206 References 206 8 Chemicalprocessingofliquidfuel 209 JanUhlı´rˇ 8.1 Introduction 209 8.2 ProcessingoffreshliquidfuelforMSR 210 8.3 ReprocessingtechnologyofMSRfuel 211 8.4 Gasextractionprocess 213 8.5 Fusedsaltvolatilization 215 8.6 Moltensalt/liquidmetalextraction 220 8.7 Electrochemicalseparationprocesses 223 8.8 Vacuumdistillation 224 8.9 MSRreprocessingflowsheets 225 8.10 Conclusions 229 References 229 9 Environment,waste,andresources 231 RitsuoYoshioka,MotoyasuKinoshita,LarsJorgensenand MagdiRagheb 9.1 Decayheatinthethoriumcycle 231 9.2 Radiotoxicityinthethoriumcycle 238 9.3 NuclearwastefromThorContypereactors 246 9.4 Resourceutilization 247 9.5 Summary 258 References 258 10 NonproliferationandsafeguardsaspectsoftheMSRfuelcycle 261 SophieGrapeandCarlHellesen 10.1 Introductiontononproliferationandnuclearsafeguards 261 10.2 Theproliferationthreat 262 10.3 Attractivenessofnuclearmaterials 263 10.4 Nuclearsafeguards 265 10.5 NonproliferationadvantagesanddisadvantageswithMSRs 271