A Preliminary Study of Molten Salt Power Reactors

A preliminary study of molten salt pcwer reactors was made. The most promising fuel carrier salts were the fluorides and chlorides of the alkali metals, zirconium, and beryllium. The chlorides were found to have lower melting points but were less stable and more corrosive than the fluorides. A Li/sup 7/ F- - BeF/sub 2/ mixture with ThF/sub 4/ and UF/sub 4/appeared to perform best. Of the numerous alloys tested as container material, Inconel and a nickel-- molybdenum alloy INOR-8 appeared to be the most resistant to corrosion. To study the performance, safety, economics, and construction costs of a typical molten salt reactor, a reactor of specific type and size was chosen for study. The reference design reactor was a two-region homogeneous converter with a core salt of 70 mole% Li/sup 7/F and 30% BeF/sub 2. ThF/sub 4/ and enough VF/sub 4/ for criticality were added. Study in- dicated that a molten salt reactor would prcduce economical power, but the problem of developing a salt core and a container metal which would last for mamy years of operation needed further study. (M.C.G.