Steady Thermal Hydraulics Analysis for a Graphite-Moderated Channel Type Molten Salt Reactor

The Molten Salt Reactor (MSR) is one of the six GENIV systems capable of breading and burning. In this paper, a graphite-moderated channel type MSR was selected for conceptual research. For this MSR, a ternary system of 0.15LiF-0.58NaF-0.27BeF₂ was proposed as the reactor fuel solvent, coolant and also moderator simultaneously with ca.1 mol% UF₄ dissolving in it, which circulates through the whole primary loop accompanying fission reaction only in the core. 169 hexagonal graphite elements, each with a central fuel channel, are arranged in the core symmetrically by 30° angles. The theoretical models of the thermal hydraulics under steady condition are conducted in one-twelfth of the core and calculated by the numerical method. The DRAGON code is adopted to calculate the axial and radial power factors. The flow and heat transfer models in the fuel salt and graphite are founded basing on the fundamental mass, momentum and energy equations. The calculated results show the detailed mass flow distribution in the core; and the temperature of the fuel salt, inner and outer wall in the calculated elements along the axial direction are also obtained.