Feasibility Assessment of a Natural-Circulation Salt Irradiation Loop in the Advanced Test Reactor

Molten-salt reactors will likely require some level of irradiation testing as part their licensing basis. An ideal experiment would consider the integrated effect neutron flux and fission product generation in addition to circulating flow conditions. The feasibility a natural-circulation salt loop Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) is assessed here. induced by innovative combination gas gaps fin along capsule wall fine-tune radial heat conductance, therefore drive an axial temperature gradient across height. Following multiple design optimizations, promising configuration has been identified. 45-kW generate 0.15 m/s velocity with 6 kg fuel-bearing salt. This demonstrates possibility generating appreciable rates within manageable experimental conditions (e.g., total size generation). initial assessment species mass tracking inside was also performed gain understanding radionuclide behavior system. Results showed that significant quantities Xe can be extracted off-gas (1.7 kCi) for 8% bubble removal efficiency rate. These results highlight potential value such experiments. Further work involve detailed engineering drawings analyses loop, well more computationally expensive modeling tracking.