A Review of Molten Salt Reactor Xenon Analysis Literature

Abstract

This paper presents a review of xenon analyses literature related to molten salt reactors (MSRs). A brief primer of reactor xenon theory is presented for fluid fueled reactors. A review of xenon analysis literature is presented for both the work done by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the later work in academia. A review of experimental work is presented. The paper concludes with describing some of the difficulties in establishing a priori xenon models and includes a commentary on the sensitive dependence of the molten salt reactor xenon behavior on the circulating void fraction.