LOTUS Molten Chloride Reactor (LMCR) Description
Contact: Mauricio Tano, mauricio.tanoretamales.at.inl.gov
Model summarized, documented, and uploaded by Rodrigo de Oliveira and Samuel Walker
The LOTUS Molten Chloride Reactor (LMCR) is an open-source generic chloride fuel salt reactor (Walter et al., 2022). Although this open-source model is similar to the Molten Chloride Reactor Experiment (MCRE) scheduled to be built at Idaho National Laboratory, readers should note that these two reactors are not the same. The schematic design of LOTUS MCR is shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1: Schematic design of LOTUS MCR (Tano et al., 2023).
The LOTUS MCR uses a chloride based ionic liquid containing sodium and uranium fuel. The reactor core and primary loop as seen in Figure 1 contain the reactor vessel marked in yellow, the reflector marked in blue, the piping marked in red, and the pump marked in green.
LOTUS MCR Reactor Specifications
The tentative parameters of the LMCR are shown in Table 1.
Table 1: LOTUS MCR Reactor Specifications
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Core Power kW | 25 |
| Operating Temperature K | 900 |
| Rated Mass Flow Rate kg/s | 100 |
| Fuel Salt Composition mol fraction | 1/3 UCl - 2/3 NaCl |
| Fuel Salt Enrichment wt % | 93.2 |
| Fuel Salt Density kg/m | 4212.60 1.0686 T |
| Fuel Salt Specific Heat J/(kg K) | 8900.44 13.7794 T |
| Fuel Salt Thermal Conductivity W/(m K) | 5.68 8.7832 ✕ 10 T |
| Fuel Salt Dynamic Viscosity Pa s | 1.505 ✕ 10 ^{} |
| Reactor Nominal Density Kg/m | 3580.0 |
| Reflector Young Modulus GPa | 300 |
| Reflector Poisson Ratio | 0.36 |
| Reflector Thermal Expansion Coefficient 1/K | 10.5 ✕ 10 |
| Reflector Yield Stress MPa | 100 |
| Reflector Hardening Constant MPa | 1.2 |
References
- Mauricio Tano, Ramiro Freile, Rodrigo de Oliveira, Samuel Walker, and Abdalla Abou-Jaoude.
Coupled steady-state precursor distribution, and transients studies for open-core flow mcfrs.
Technical Report INL/RPT-23-73982, Idaho National Laboratory, 2023.[BibTeX]
- Dan Walter, Tommy Cisneros, Kent Wardle, Josh Walter, and Sean Findlay.
Mcre design description in support of external model development.
Technical Report MCRE-ENG-PRSNT-0029, TerraPower, 2022.[BibTeX]