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Radioxenon signatures of molten salt reactors

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Abstract

Developments of molten salt reactor (MSR) technologies are making rapid progress across the globe. These reactor designs involve properly controlling radionuclides through off-gas systems. This work examines radioxenon emissions and assesses treaty detection technology to be used for monitoring. This work also includes a sensitivity study with ORIGEN on the nuclear forensic signals possible from a MSR. Multiple Isotope Ratio Comparison (MIRC) plots are used to compare the ratios of radioxenon isotopes in an MSR to a highly enriched uranium (HEU) reactor. The results show that MSR emissions may significantly overlap with signals produced in a HEU reactor and that changing reactor operations or retaining emissions in an off-gas system can significantly shift the radioxenon signature away from the HEU pulse.

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Acknowledgements

The Consortium for Monitoring, Technology, and Verification would like to thank the NNSA and DOE for the continued support of these research activities. This work was funded by the Consortium for Monitoring, Technology, and Verification under Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration award number DE-NA0003920.

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  1. Georgia Institute of Technology, 770 State Street NE, 30332, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Matthew J. Mitchell, Coral Kazaroff, Peter Sobel & S. R. Biegalski

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  1. Matthew J. Mitchell
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  2. Coral Kazaroff
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  3. Peter Sobel
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  4. S. R. Biegalski
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Correspondence to Matthew J. Mitchell.

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Mitchell, M.J., Kazaroff, C., Sobel, P. et al. Radioxenon signatures of molten salt reactors. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 331, 4851–4856 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-022-08556-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-022-08556-y

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