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The basic problem for molten salt reactors is that the various reactor components are exposed to hot salts that are chemically corrosive, while being bombarded
by idiotsecant 4y ago
The basic problem for molten salt reactors is that the various reactor components are exposed to hot salts that are chemically corrosive, while being bombarded by radioactive particles. This is of course quite problematic when your goal is a machine that makes electricity consistently for decades. Equipment failures are an inevitability because we don't know of a material that has the properties needed to survive this kind of application. Curious how (or whether) the authors of this design approached this problem.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- 9wzYQbTYsAIc 4y agoThe newly published patent is for something described as a “salt wall” if that helps your imagination.
- m0llusk 4y agoIt will be interesting to see how well it holds up to prolonged testing. There have been numerous previous attempts at this sort of thing and they have all failed. It turns out to be highly significant because the added cost of preparing, testing, inspecting, and then replacing any damaged parts in contact with the liquid sodium adds up to a considerable expense that challenges the business case for the reactor in the first place. Good that this is being worked on, but bad they seem not to be aware of the serious problems other molten sodium reactors have faced.
- 9wzYQbTYsAIc 4y agoFrom what I’ve read so far (see other links in discussion), the researchers believe that they have likely solved the corrosion issue by removing hydrogen and oxygen from the salt equations.
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- bilsbie 4y agoWhy use salt at all then? Aren’t there other materials with similar properties?
- patmorgan23 4y agoHigh school chemistry reminder. A salt is a compound made up of a metallic and nonmetallic element ionically bonded together. There are hundreds of different salts. Molton salt reactor designs work because of the properties of salts. The radioactive fuel is mixed into the Molton salt and the salt acts as a moderator for the reaction. Using molten salt lets you achieve much higher temperatures(and thus higher energy outputs) without having to use a high pressure vessel like in modern light water reactors. There are a couple other properties that remove the possibility of a runaway reaction, and they can develop some unique safety mechanisms like a 'freeze plug' that can be passively triggered to drain the fuel medium into a storage tank to cool down in the event of catastrophic failures of other systems.
- DennisP 4y agoAt least two MSR startups plan to deal with that problem with replaceable reactor cores, which only have to last five years or so before being shipped off to a cleanup facility. We do have materials that can manage that.
- fulafel 4y agoDo they get processed as waste or is there some intresting tech for cleaning them out?