Molten Salt Fast Reactor (MSFR) Description

The VTB MSFR model is based off of the MSFR design created under the Euratom EVOL (Evaluation and Viability of Liquid Fuel Fast Reactor Systems) and ROSATOM MARS (Minor Actinides Recycling in Molten Salt) projects (Brovchenko, Mariya et al., 2019). It is a fast-spectrum reactor that produces 3 GW of thermal power using fuel dissolved in a LiF carrier salt.

Most parameters and material properties of the VTB MSFR are taken from (Brovchenko, Mariya et al., 2019). That reference specifies a block-style geometry with all 90-degree angles, but we instead use a geometry with curved surfaces that more closely matches "Geometry II" from (Rouch et al., 2014).

Here a simplified 2D axisymmetric model is used. The geometry is shown below:

The model includes a core region, a pump, and a heat exchanger. An interior reflector shields the pump and heat exchanger from the high neutron flux in the core. (Note that some models of the MSFR include a fertile blanket in this region, but that blanket is neglected here as a simplification.) The model also includes an outer reflector surrounding all of the components.

The exact dimensions of the VTB MSFR model are shown below. Note that this model is vertically symmetric except for the pump and heat exchanger.

Per (Brovchenko, Mariya et al., 2019), the composition of the fuel salt is 19.985% ThF $var element = document.getElementById("moose-equation-2f0feffc-973a-48d9-bed6-f59b64e6699e");katex.render("_4", element, {displayMode:false,throwOnError:false});$ , 2.515% U $var element = document.getElementById("moose-equation-3fa5082f-5a5c-4547-9272-6a151dc3ab4c");katex.render("^{233}", element, {displayMode:false,throwOnError:false});$ F $var element = document.getElementById("moose-equation-126ac009-2abc-4ac8-910b-5ab0e2c6f8d4");katex.render("_4", element, {displayMode:false,throwOnError:false});$ , and 77.5% LiF (by mole). The nominal inlet and outlet salt temperatures are 650 and 750 $var element = document.getElementById("moose-equation-5d33d632-3f69-4384-ae26-c63cd6c3c4d3");katex.render("^\\circ", element, {displayMode:false,throwOnError:false});$ C, respectively (Brovchenko, Mariya et al., 2019). A nickel alloy is assumed is assumed for the inner and outer reflectors.

References

H. Rouch, O. Geoffroy, P. Rubiolo, A. Laureau, M. Brovchenko, D. Heuer, and E. Merle-Lucotte. Preliminary thermal–hydraulic core design of the molten salt fast reactor (msfr). Annals of Nuclear Energy, 64:449–456, 2014. doi:10.1016/j.anucene.2013.09.012.

@article{rouch2014,
    author = "Rouch, H. and Geoffroy, O. and Rubiolo, P. and Laureau, A. and Brovchenko, M. and Heuer, D. and Merle-Lucotte, E.",
    title = "Preliminary thermal–hydraulic core design of the Molten Salt Fast Reactor (MSFR)",
    journal = "Annals of Nuclear Energy",
    volume = "64",
    pages = "449-456",
    year = "2014",
    doi = "10.1016/j.anucene.2013.09.012"
}

Brovchenko, Mariya, Kloosterman, Jan-Leen, Luzzi, Lelio, Merle, Elsa, Heuer, Daniel, Laureau, Axel, Feynberg, Olga, Ignatiev, Victor, Aufiero, Manuele, Cammi, Antonio, Fiorina, Carlo, Alcaro, Fabio, Dulla, Sandra, Ravetto, Piero, Frima, Lodewijk, Lathouwers, Danny, and Merk, Bruno. Neutronic benchmark of the molten salt fast reactor in the frame of the evol and mars collaborative projects. EPJ Nuclear Sci. Technol., 5:2, 2019. doi:10.1051/epjn/2018052.

@article{brovchenko2019,
    author = "{Brovchenko, Mariya} and {Kloosterman, Jan-Leen} and {Luzzi, Lelio} and {Merle, Elsa} and {Heuer, Daniel} and {Laureau, Axel} and {Feynberg, Olga} and {Ignatiev, Victor} and {Aufiero, Manuele} and {Cammi, Antonio} and {Fiorina, Carlo} and {Alcaro, Fabio} and {Dulla, Sandra} and {Ravetto, Piero} and {Frima, Lodewijk} and {Lathouwers, Danny} and {Merk, Bruno}",
    title = "Neutronic benchmark of the molten salt fast reactor in the frame of the EVOL and MARS collaborative projects",
    doi = "10.1051/epjn/2018052",
    journal = "EPJ Nuclear Sci. Technol.",
    year = "2019",
    volume = "5",
    pages = "2"
}

References