• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.49 no.8
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• pp.1727-1732
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• 2017

Pyroprocessing is an alternative method of reprocessing spent fuel, usually involving the dissolving spent fuel in a molten salt media. The National Nuclear Laboratory designed, built, and commissioned a molten salt dynamics rig to investigate the transfer characteristics of molten lithium chloride-potassium chloride eutectic salt. The efficacy and flow characteristics of a high-temperature centrifugal pump and argon gas lift were obtained for pumping the molten salt at temperatures up to $500^{\circ}C$. The rig design proved suitable on an industrial scale and transfer methods appropriate for use in future molten salt systems. Corrosion within the rig was managed, and melting techniques were optimized to reduce stresses on the rig. The results obtained improve the understanding of molten salt transport dynamics, materials, and engineering design issues and support the industrialization of molten salts pyroprocessing.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.41-46
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• 1989

Molten salt-water explosion caused by the contact between molten salt and water is one of vapour explosions. An experimental study of the vapour explosion, which occurs when the molten mixture of Na$_2$CO$_3$-NaOH and water come in contact was performed. The pressure wave generated in each composition Of molten mixtures was measured. The results obtained are as follows： 1) The vapour explosion didn't occur for a molten salt of 100%-Na$_2$CO$_3$- 2) For a molten salt of Na$_2$CO$_3$ 80％-NaOH 20% mixture, a small vapour explosion occured initially, and a large vapour explosion, which showed the largest pressure wave among the present experiments, occurred after an induced period. 3) For molten salt of Na$_2$CO$_3$60％ - NaOH 40％ mixture and Na$_2$CO$_3$ 40％ - NaOH 60％ mixture, the vapour explosion occurred near the water surface shortly after they come in contact with water. This explosion would be caused by fragmentation of the molten salts due to impulse generated when thee molten salts and water come in contact.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.173-182
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• 2019

To produce a high-quality Kimchi product, molten salt was used for the Kimchi. Changes in the physiochemical properties and functional compounds were analyzed during fermentation. The salinity of bay salt Kimchi was higher than that of the molten salt Kimchi. The fermentation speed of the lactic acid bacteria in the molten salt Kimchi was significantly faster. To evaluate the effects of the salts on the changes in the functional compounds during fermentation, the antioxidant activity, total phenolic compounds (TPC), flavonols, phenolic acids, and glucosinolates in Chinese cabbage were analyzed. In the first 9 days, antioxidants were decreased during this fermentation period and then, increased after that. TPC was slightly increased for all the conditions after 40 days fermentation. Kaempferol was a major flavonol but had a relatively larger decrease in the molten salt Kimchi than in the bay salt samples. Phenolic acid did not show any significant difference among the samples. The glucosinolate contents were significantly decreased in all the conditions of Kimchi during the fermentation period. Consequently, the molten salt greatly affected the fermentation speed of Kimchi and the total characteristics of the Kimchi lactic acid bacteria. Although the functional compounds of Chinese cabbage were decreased during the fermentation of Kimchi, this decrease did not profoundly deteriorate the food quality. Therefore, high-quality Kimchi with enhanced bioactivity will be available if appropriate Chinese cabbages that have enhanced functional compounds are used.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.49 no.5
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• pp.887-895
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• 2017

Preliminary results of the dynamic analysis of a two-fluid molten-salt breeder reactor (MSBR) system are presented. Based on an earlier work on the preliminary dynamic model of the concept, the model presented here is nonlinear and has been revised to accurately reflect the design exemplified in ORNL-4528. A brief overview of the model followed by results from simulations performed to validate the model is presented. Simulations illustrate stable behavior of the reactor dynamics and temperature feedback effects to reactivity excursions. Stable and smooth changes at various nodal temperatures are also observed. Control strategies for molten-salt reactor operation are discussed, followed by an illustration of the open-loop load-following capability of the molten-salt breeder reactor system. It is observed that the molten-salt breeder reactor system exhibits "self-regulating" behavior, minimizing the need for external controller action for load-following maneuvers.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.57-62
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• 2016

The over-discharging phenomena in sodium-nickel chloride batteries were investigated in relation to decomposition of molten salt electrolyte and consequent metal co-deposition. From XRD analysis, the material deposited on graphite cathode current collector was revealed to be by-product of molten salt electrolyte decomposition. In particular, the result showed that the Ni-Al alloys ($Al_3Ni_2$, $Ni_3Al$ and $Al_3Ni$) were electrochemically deposited on graphite current collectors in line with over-discharging behaviors. It is assumed that the $NiCl_2$ solubility in molten salt electrolytes leads to the co-deposition of Ni-Al alloys by increasing metal deposition potential above 1.6 V (vs. $Na/Na^+$). The cell tests have revealed that the composition of molten salt electrolytes modified by various additives makes a decisive influence on the over-discharging behaviors of the cells. It was revealed that NaOCN addition to molten salt electrolytes was advantageous to suppress over-discharge reactions by modifying the characteristics of molten salt electrolytes. NaOCN addition into molten salt electrolytes seems to suppress Ni solubility by maintaining basic melts. The cell using modified molten salt electrolyte with NaOCN (Cell D) showed relatively less cell degradation compared with other cells for long cycles.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.51 no.5
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• pp.1390-1397
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• 2019

SiC coating and SiC/glassy carbon composite coating were prepared on IG-110 nuclear graphite (Toyo Tanso Co., Ltd., Japan) to strengthen its inertness to molten fluoride salt used in molten salt reactor (MSR). Two kinds of modified graphite were obtained and correspondingly named as IG-110-1 and IG-110-2, which referred to modified IG-110 with a single SiC coating and a SiC/glassy carbon composite coating, respectively. Both structure and property of modified graphite were carefully researched and contrasted with virgin IG-110. Results indicated that modified graphite presented better comprehensive properties such as more compact structure and higher resistance to molten salt infiltration. With the protection of coatings, the infiltration amounts of fluoride salt into modified graphite were much less than that into virgin IG-110 at the same circumstance. Especially, the infiltration amount of fluoride salt into IG-110-2 under 5 atm was merely 0.26 wt%, which was much less than that into virgin IG-110 under 1.5 atm (13.5 wt%) and the critical index proposed for nuclear graphite used in MSR (0.5 wt%). The SiC/glassy carbon composite coating gave rise to highest resistance to molten salt infiltration into IG-110-2, and thus demonstrated it could be a promising protective coating for nuclear graphite used in MSR.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.259-264
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• 2016

With a specially designed electrochemical cell, the changes in impedance behavior for Inconel 600 and aluminide diffusion coatings under molten sulfate film with thermal cycles (from $800^{\circ}C$ to $350^{\circ}C$) were monitored with electrochemical impedance measurements. It was found that corrosion resistance for both materials increased with lower temperatures. At the same time, the state of molten salt was also monitored successfully by measuring the changes in impedance at high frequency, which generally represents the resistance of molten salt itself. After two thermal cycles, both Inconel 600 and aluminide diffusion coatings showed excellent corrosion resistance. The results from SEM observation and EDS analysis correlated well with the results obtained by electrochemical impedance measurements. It is concluded that electrochemical impedance is very useful for monitoring the corrosion resistance of materials under molten salt film conditions even with thermal cycles.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.337-346
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• 2020

Two commonly used ceramics in molten salt research are alumina and mullite. The two ceramics were exposed to a combination of rare earth chlorides (YCl₃, SmCl₃, NdCl₃, PrCl₃, and CeCl₃; each rare earth chloride of 1.8 weight percent) in LiCl-KCl at 773 K for approximately 13 days. Scanning electron microscopy with wave dispersion spectra was utilized to investigate a formation layer or deposition of rare earths onto the ceramic. Only the major constituents of the ceramics (Al, Si, and O₂) were observed during the wave dispersion spectra. X-ray fluorescence was used as well to determine concentration changes in the molten salt as a function of ceramic exposure time. This study shows no evidence of ionic exchange or layer formation between the ceramics and molten chloride salt mixture. There are signs of surface tension effects of molten salt moving out of the tantalum crucible into secondary containment.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.251-259
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• 2004

In the development of the advanced spent fuel management process based on the molten salt technology, it is essential to choose the optimum material for the process equipment handling molten salt. Corrosion behavior of Ni 200 and Ni-base alloys in molten salt of LiCl-$Li_2$O under oxidation atmosphere was investigated in the temperature range of $650～800^{\circ}C$ for 24～312 hrs. The order of corrosion rate was Ni 200 > Inconel 690 > Inconel 601 > Inconel 600. Inconel 600 alloy showed the highest corrosion resistance among the examined alloys, but Ni 200 exhibited the highest corrosion rate. Corrosion products of Inconel 600 and Inconel 601 were $Cr_2$$O_3$ and $NiFe_2$$O_4$. In case of Inconel 690, a single layer of $CrO_2$$O_3$ was formed in the early stage of corrosion and an outer layer of $NiFe_2$O$_4$ and inner layer of $Cr_2$$O_3$ were formed with increase of corrosion time. Inconel 600 showed local corrosion behavior and Inconel 601, 690 showed uniform corrosion behavior.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.123-127
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• 2013

The electrolytic reduction of a spent oxide fuel involves liberation of the oxygen in a molten LiCl electrolyte, which is a chemically aggressive environment that is too crosive for typical structural materials. Therefore, it is essential to choose the optimum material for the process equipment for handling a molten salt. In this study, the corrosion behavior of pyro-carbon made by CVD was investigated in a molten LiCl-$Li_2O$ salt under an oxidation atmosphere at $650^{\circ}C$ and $750^{\circ}C$ for 72 hours. Pyro-carbon showed no chemical reactions with the molten salt because of its low wettability between pyro-carbon and the molten salt. As a result of XRD analysis, pyro-carbon exposed to the molten salt showed pure graphite after corrosion tests. As a result of TGA, whereas the coated layer by CVD showed high anti-oxidation, the non-coated layer showed relatively low anti-oxidation. The stable phases in the reactions were $C_{(S)}$, $Li_2CO_{3(S)}$, $LiCl_{(l)}$, $Li_2O$ at $650^{\circ}C$ and $C_{(S)}$, $LiCl_{(l)}$, $Li_2O_{(S)}$ at $750^{\circ}C$. $Li_2CO_{(S)}$ was decomposed at $750^{\circ}C$ into $Li_2O_{(S)}$ and $CO_{2(g)}$.