Electrochemically modulated molten salt reactor
AssigneeEnergy, United States Department of
InventorJUNHUA JIANG
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Abstract
An electrochemically modulated molten salt reactor (EMMSR) that contains a vessel and a power source. The vessel houses a fuel salt, at least a portion of a neutron moderator, and at least a portion of an insulator. The fuel salt includes enough dissolved fissile isotopes to cause continued self-sustaining fission reactions during the operation of the EMMSR. The neutron moderator is configured to slow down fast neutrons produced by the dissolved fissile isotopes. The insulator is configured to electrically isolate the neutron moderator from the vessel. The power source has a positive potential and a negative potential. The positive potential is received by the neutron moderator and the negative potential is received by the vessel.
Claims20
1) An electrochemically modulated molten salt reactor (EMMSR) comprising:
- a) a vessel and a power source;
- b) the vessel configured to contain a fuel salt, a neutron moderator, and an insulator,
- the fuel salt including dissolved fissile isotopes wherein the concentration of the fissile isotopes during operation of the EMMSR is sufficient to cause continued self-sustaining fission reactions,
- the neutron moderator configured to slow down fast neutrons produced by the dissolved fissile isotopes,
- the insulator configured to electrically isolate the neutron moderator from the vessel;
- and
- c) the power source having a positive potential and a negative potential,
- the positive potential configured to be received by the neutron moderator, and the negative potential configured to be received by the vessel.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.