Radioxenon signatures of molten salt reactors

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

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

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.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)4851-4856
Number of pages6
JournalJournal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry
Volume331
Issue number12
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2022
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • MIRC plot
  • Molten salt reactors
  • Nuclear forensics
  • Radioxenon

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