Molten Salt Reactors and Thorium Energy

ISBN-13: 9780081011263 / Angielski / Twarda / 2017 / 840 str.

Thomas James Dolan

Opis

Molten Salt Reactors is a comprehensive reference on the status of molten salt reactor (MSR) research and thorium fuel utilization. There is growing awareness that nuclear energy is needed to complement intermittent energy sources and to avoid pollution from fossil fuels. Light water reactors are complex, expensive, and vulnerable to core melt, steam explosions, and hydrogen explosions, so better technology is needed. MSRs could operate safely at nearly atmospheric pressure and high temperature, yielding efficient electrical power generation, desalination, actinide incineration, hydrogen production, and other industrial heat applications. Coverage includes:

• Motivation -- why are we interested?
• Technical issues - reactor physics, thermal hydraulics, materials, environment, ...
• Generic designs -- thermal, fast, solid fuel, liquid fuel, ...
• Specific designs - aimed at electrical power, actinide incineration, thorium utilization, ...
• Worldwide activities in 23 countries
• Conclusions

This book is a collaboration of 58 authors from 23 countries, written in cooperation with the International Thorium Molten Salt Forum. It can serve as a reference for engineers and scientists, and it can be used as a textbook for graduate students and advanced undergrads. Molten Salt Reactors is the only complete review of the technology currently available, making this an essential text for anyone reviewing the use of MSRs and thorium fuel, including students, nuclear researchers, industrial engineers, and policy makers.

• Written in cooperation with the International Thorium Molten-Salt Forum
• Covers MSR-specific issues, various reactor designs, and discusses issues such as the environmental impact, non-proliferation, and licensing
• Includes case studies and examples from experts across the globe

Spis treści

1. Introduction 2. Electricity production economics 3. Other MSR applications 4. Reactor physics 5. MSR kinetics and dynamics 6. Thermal hydraulics 7. Materials 8. Chemical processing of liquid fuel 9. Environment, Waste, and Resources 10. Safeguards and Nonproliferation 11. Liquid fuel, thermal neutron-spectrum reactors 12. Liquid fuel, fast and epithermal neutron spectrum reactors 13. Solid fuel reactors 14. Static liquid fuel reactors 15. Accelerator Driven Systems 16. Fusion-Fission hybrids 17. Thorium Molten Salt Reactor (TMSR) 18. Integral Molten Salt Reactor (IMSR) 19. ThorCon Reactor 20. SAMOFAR 21. Stable Salt Fast Reactor 22. Transatomic Power 23. Copenhagen Atomics Waste Burner 24. Molten Salt Thermal Wasteburner 25. Dual Fluid Reactor 26. Research activities-Worldwide case studies 26. Unanswered Questions

O autorze

Professor Dolan has worked on nuclear technology and international relations issues for three universities, five national laboratories and in nine countries, including in his position as Physics Section Head for the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. Dolan's primary research interests are concerned with molten salt fission reactors and nuclear fusion technology.

He developed three courses at the University of Missouri-Rolla on fusion research principles, fusion experiments, and fusion technology. As well as the numerous academic positions he has held, he also has experience working in industry (Phillips Petroleum Company) on fusion research and other nuclear topics. As Head of the Physics Section of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) he helped facilitate international cooperation in fusion research, including organization of the semi-annual IAEA Fusion Energy Conferences. Since then he has taught courses on fusion research at the University of Illinois, in China, and in India.