Abstract
The sixth reactor type in the Generation IV programme is something completely different. The fuel uranium or plutonium is not present here as a solid pellet or particle, but in liquid form. Uranium, thorium, but also transuranium elements form salts with fluorine that melt even at moderate temperatures. Mixed with other fluorides, such a molten salt can then be both fuel and coolant. For research, this type of reactor is currently the most exciting option. So far, it is mainly physicists and chemists who have done the preliminary work, and there is still a lot of design work to be done before it becomes a real power plant. But I’d be happy to explain how far we’ve come so far.
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Schulenberg, T. (2022). Molten Salt Reactors. In: The fourth generation of nuclear reactors. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-64919-0_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-64919-0_9
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