NE Research Assistant Professor Ondrej Chvala was recently invited to write about Molten Salt Reactors (MSRs) for the internationally acclaimed magazine Power Engineering International, which is also an online hub that examines the drivers that are changing the global power generation sector.
In his article “Reactors Worth Their Salt,” Chvala explains the history of MSRs and some of their features, including that they:
- Are a high-temperature, low-pressure system
- Can be refueled while in operation
- Have no limitations of fuel lifetime
- Have inexpensive, thin-walled structural components
- Don’t have chemical or pressure drivers to spread the radionuclides
- Hold potential for full passive safety
- And that they have the possibility for additional revenue streams from valuable medical isotopes.