Reactor Technology | Molten Salt Reactor

Research Highlight | Reactor Technology

Research aims to develop molten salt reactor core simulator

The history of the US Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is distinctly intertwined with work on molten salt reactors (MSRs), but promising research at ORNL is now directly focused on the future of MSRs—with a nod to the past.

A team of researchers at ORNL led by Ben Collins is developing a high-fidelity multiphysics nuclear reactor core simulator for MSRs. The project, funded by ORNL’s Laboratory Directed Research and Development program, will help private companies—many that have shown renewed interest in the technology in recent years—better understand and predict MSR cores and potential design challenges. Continue Reading.