Fission Product Removal by Vacuum Spraying in a Heavy Water Moderated Molten Salt Reactor

Abstract

In the MSRE at ORNL volatile, fission products were removed from the salt in the pump chamber via a helium flow gas and a spraying mechanism. Copenhagen Atomics (CA) proposes a new partial vacuum spraying mechanism for removal of volatile fission products from the salt and show that it is likely that up to 50% of fission products can be removed with this simple method. Combining partial vacuum spraying with a heavy water moderated molten salt reactor, CA suggests that it would be possible to develop a breeder reactor in thermal spectrum without online pyro or wet chemistry salt cleanup. Doing this by introducing ceramic materials and new production techniques includes aerographite insulation materials.