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Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
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Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
In transition: Commercializing fusion power
Commercial fusion power is closer than ever. There are now around 30 U.S. fusion companies, several of which claim to be on track to connect to the grid as early as the 2030s.
Tokamak and laser inertial confinement approaches benefit from decades of research at facilities such as the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and ITER, with alternative concepts including stellarator, magnetic mirror, and Z-pinch confinement also making notable progress as private and government funding for fusion increases.
M. Brovchenko, D. Heuer, E. Merle-Lucotte, M. Allibert, V. Ghetta, A. Laureau, P. Rubiolo
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 175 | Number 3 | November 2013 | Pages 329-339
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE12-70
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Molten salt reactors are liquid fuel reactors so that they are flexible in operation, but they are very different from solid fuel reactors in the approach to safety. This study concentrates on the specific concept named Molten Salt Fast Reactor (MSFR). Since this new nuclear technology is in development, safety is an essential point to be considered all along the research and development studies. After a short description of the MSFR systems, necessary to device accidental scenarios, this paper will focus on the decay heat evaluation of such a reactor. Among different contributions, the decay heat of fission products in the MSFR is evaluated to be low (3% of nominal power), mainly due to the reprocessing during the reactor operation. As a result, the contribution of the actinides is significant (0.5% of nominal power). However, the decay heat of the fission products is important, and among the different uncertainty sources, the fission yield uncertainties are pointed out. The unprotected loss of heat sink transients are studied in this paper. It appears that slow transients are favorable (>1 min) to minimize the temperature increase of the fuel salt. This work will be the basis of further safety studies as well as an essential parameter for the design of the draining system.