Graphite and Xenon Behavior and their Influence on Molten-Salt Reactor Design

Existing data an dimensional changes in graphite have been fitted to parabolic temperature-sensitive curves. From these, the graphite life, radiation-induced stresses, and permissible geometries have been calculated. It is concluded existing materials can be utilized in a molten-salt reactor which has a core graphite life of about four years, without serious cost penalty. Fission product xenon can be removed by sparging the fuel salt with helium bubbles and removing them after enrichment. With reasonable values of salt-to-bubble transfer coefficient and graphite permeability, the penalty to breeding ratio can be reduced to <0.5%.