Molten-salt breeder reactors (MSBR's) are being developed by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory for generating low-cost power while extending the nation's resources of fissionable fuel. The fluid fuel in these reactors, consisting of UF4 and ThF4 dissolved in fluorides of beryllium and lithium, is circulated through a reactor core moderated by graphite. Technology developments over the past 20 y...

A personal history of the development of molten-salt reactors in the United States is presented. The initial goal was an aircraft propulsion reactor, and a molten fluoride-fueled Aircraft Reactor Experiment was operated at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in 1954. In 1956, the objective shifted to civilian nuclear power, and reactor concepts were developed using a circulating UF4-ThF4 fuel, graphi...

In a molten-salt solar power tower, liquid salt at 290oC (554oF) is pumped from a ‘cold’ storage tank through the receiver where it is heated to 565oC (1,049oF) and then on to a ‘hot’ tank for storage. When power is needed from the plant, hot salt is pumped to a steam generating system that produces superheated steam for a conventional Rankinecycle turbine/generator system. From the steam gener...

A room-temperature redox molten salt for the study of electron transfers in semisolid media, based on combining bis(cyclopentadienyl)cobalt with oligomeric polyether counterions, [Cp2Co](MePEG350SO3), is reported. The transport properties of the new molten salt can be varied (plasticized) by varying the polyether content. The charge transport rate during voltammetric reduction of the ionically ...

Practical implementation of one-dimensional semiconductors into devices capable of exploiting their novel properties is often hindered by low product yields, poor material quality, high production cost, or overall lack of synthetic control. Here, we show that a molten-salt flux scheme can be used to synthesize large quantities of high-quality, single-crystalline TiO2 nanowires with controllable...

This study focuses on the optimization of an electric heater design for molten salt pre-heating in a supercritical CO2–molten-salt loop. The scope investigation is to analyze typical designs similar components identifying possible malfunctions and defining proper modifications geometry operating conditions address such technical issues optimize attained thermal efficiency. By performing computa...

This paper describes progress towards a first-of-a-kind demonstration of an integrated solar dish and moltensalt storage system, using the superheated steam energy transport concept developed by Wizard Power. Superheated steam is used to charge an energy storage system with a single sensible-heat-storage medium (in this case molten salt), by restricting the steam conditions to the superheat reg...

Chemical incompatibility and low thermal conductivity issues of molten-salt-based thermal energy storage materials can be addressed by using microstructured composites. Using a eutectic mixture of lithium and sodium carbonates as molten salt, magnesium oxide as supporting material, and graphite as thermal conductivity enhancer, the microstructural development, chemical compatibility, thermal st...

In this study, a novel chlorination technique for metallic titanium (Ti) was devised in order to establish a recycling process that uses both Ti metal scrap and iron chloride (FeClx) waste, and its feasibility was demonstrated. Direct reaction between Ti and FeClx has drawbacks such as slow kinetics of Ti chlorination and high volatilization of FeClx. To overcome these, the authors proposed a c...