Salt Purity Boosts Molten‑Salt Reactor Viability

High‑purity salt stops corrosion of 316L steel — A study in the Journal of Nuclear Materials shows that removing moisture and oxides from molten fluoride salts prevents the rapid degradation of 316L stainless steel, a low‑cost structural material for MSRs [2].

Untreated salts corrode within 1,000 h; purified salts survive 3,000 h — Long‑term tests in FLiNaK and LiThF at up to 700 °C revealed severe metal loss and surface damage after 1,000 hours in impure salts, while purified salts produced only a thin protective chromium‑carbide layer after 3,000 hours [1].

Researchers stress salt purity as a “corrosion myth” breaker — Professor Maulik Patel (University of Liverpool) and Thomas Steenberg (Copenhagen Atomics) said the findings confirm decades of research and should silence doubts that corrosion makes MSRs infeasible [1].

Copenhagen Atomics pursues a 100 MWt containerised MSR — The design uses unpressurised heavy‑water moderation, consumes nuclear waste, breeds thorium‑derived fuel, and is sized for mass‑manufacture and assembly‑line production [1].

NRG‑Pallas begins irradiation testing at the High Flux Reactor — The Dutch programme, funded by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, will expose candidate alloys, graphite and salts to intense neutron fields to assess radiation‑induced corrosion and fission‑product behaviour [1].

HFR’s unique neutron flux enables accelerated material studies — Operating ~260 days per year, the reactor will soon be succeeded by the new Pallas reactor; the programme collaborates with the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre and sources salt from Karlsruhe [1].