Feasibility of a Breed-and-Burn Molten Salt Reactor

This work addresses the feasibility and characteristics of the breed and burn (B and B) cycle for Molten Salt Reactors. In the general B and B cycle, natural Uranium or Thorium is used as fuel for a reactor which breeds a sufficient amount to maintain criticality at equilibrium without reprocessing. Interest in applying this scheme to an MSR has developed recently For the MSR B and B scheme considered here, fresh salt containing fertile material is continually fed into the core while salt with the composition of the homogeneous fuel is expelled without reprocessing. Through an analysis of the equilibrium conditions and startup requirements, the feasibility of such a cycle operating with various salts is assessed