ORNL’s new salt purification lab offers tools to make and purify the salt and perform corrosion testing, which are essential steps in qualifying molten salt reactor technologies for commercial use. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy
Nuclear—Pass the salt
Kevin Robb, a staff scientist at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, is taking what he learned from developing the Liquid Salt Test Loop—a key tool in deploying molten salt technology applications
ORNL’s molten salt history opens door for research into solar power

About

ORNL is the world’s leader in Molten Salt Reactor technology development. 

ORNL has historically led Molten Salt Reactor Technology development. We strive to:

  • Facilitate industry success in the deployment of commercial molten salt reactors.
  • Develop understanding and technology needed to design and license.
  • Have a workable path for licensing of commercial prototypes in the near-term.
  • Have a vendor well along the licensing path NLT five years from now.
  • Help with the first new MSR construction and monitor operation.

Milestones:

  • Develop a common understanding of licensing needs and expectations.
  • Facilitate the technology, data, and models that enable designs.
  • Be able to assist developers through modeling and experiments.
  • Develop monitoring technology for first reactors.

 

Why Molten Salt Reactors?

Molten Salt Reactors are demonstrated technology. They're flexible in design and purpose, they can be used to help close the nuclear fuel cycle, and they allow for effective utilization of our vast uranium and thorium resources. They can also be simpler reactors with fewer active components, which may significantly improve nuclear energy economics.

 

 

News and Highlights

View All Fusion and Fission News
Nuclear – Finally, a benchmark
Nuclear – Finally, a benchmark
ORNL’s new salt purification lab offers tools to make and purify the salt and perform corrosion testing, which are essential steps in qualifying molten salt reactor technologies for commercial use. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy
Nuclear—Pass the salt
ORNL Image
Time Warp: Molten Salt Reactor Experiment—Alvin Weinberg’s magnum opus
ORNL Image
Research aims to develop molten salt reactor core simulator
Benjamin Betzler
ORNL team developing key molten salt reactor simulation tools
ORNL Image
A FLiNaK mixture of salt was circulated for the first time in the Liquid Salt Test Loop (LSTL)
Magnetic suspension test bed.
Extreme engineering: Embedding instrumentation and control at 700 degrees Celsius
An ORNL researcher holds a capsule of molten salt. Preliminary experiments seem to indicate that irradiation can slow corrosion of metal in liquid salt. Credit: ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy
Nuclear – Slowing corrosion
View All Fusion and Fission News

A Look at MSR Types

Throughout nuclear reactor history, interest in Molten Salt Reactors has remained. Here’s an overview of their beginnings, benefits and challenges – as well as a look at worldwide progress toward modern MSRs.

Want more detail on the types of Molten Salt Reactors and specifics on how they work? This page, from the World Nuclear Association, can help.

an artistic rendering showing a cross section of a molten salt reactor

MSR Videos

https://youtu.be/tyDbq5HRs0o?feature=shared

https://youtu.be/knofNX7HCbg

https://youtu.be/qdeOudUxNUE