Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) scientists seem to have cracked the code of a potential fuel source for the next generation of nuclear reactors by documenting the unique chemical dynamics and structure of high-temperature liquid uranium trichloride (UCl3) salt.
This is the first time in the world that such research has been conducted on UCl3, a potential fuel source for advanced molten salt reactors. This breakthrough aims to detail how atoms move in the molten salt.
“This is a first critical step in enabling good predictive models for the design of future reactors,” said Santanu Roy, who co-led the study at ORNL. “A better ability to predict and calculate the microscopic behaviors is critical to design, and reliable data help develop better models.”
Notably, molten salt reactors, which have been under research since the 1960s, offer numerous advantages over traditional nuclear reactors. They are considered inherently safer and more efficient and produce less radioactive waste.
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