Advanced nuclear reactors are well poised to replace the aging existing fleet of light water reactors. One design, the molten salt reactor (MSR), is of interest due to the thermodynamic advantages of using molten salts as the coolant and/or fuel. The objective of the MSR campaign, as part of the US Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Technologies Program, is to enable the deployment of future MSRs by performing fundamental research on various molten salts and material interaction and developing supporting technology. Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is proving a useful analytical tool for these efforts. LIBS is performed by focusing a high-energy laser pulse onto a sample surface where large energy density results in ablation followed by rapid thermal breakdown and formation of a plasma plume. As this plasma de-excites, unique electronic transitions occur, emitting photons at characteristic emissions. The collected spectrum provides an elemental fingerprint of the sample. LIBS is currently being deployed by the MSR campaign as an elemental sensor for off-gas streams and a posttest characterization tool for graphite salt exposures. Overviews of recent progress in these thrusts and future opportunities to employ LIBS for molten salts will be discussed.

Application of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy for the molten salt reactor campaign

Fall 2022 abstracts, posters, and presentations will launch in mid-September.

ACS Fall 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.