In recent years, organizations both at home and abroad are actively carrying out a research on the Molten Salt Reactor systems (MSRs). For example, the Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics (SINAP), Chinese Academy of Science (CAS), is currently involved in the design and development of a 10MWth Solid Fuel Thorium Molten Salt Reactor (TMSR-SF1). SINAP started their analysis of TMSR using an earlier version of RELAP/SCDAPSIM, MOD4.0. MOD4.0 included models and correlations for molten salts but was unable to treat molten salts in the presence of non-condensable gases. Since that time SINAP and ISS have worked in parallel to extend the models and correlations for such systems. The SINAP modified code, using SINAP proprietary models and correlations, is described in the “open literature” under the name RELAP5-MSR. More general, but comparable, models developed by ISS for liquid metals/salts in the presence of non-condensable have been incorporated into RELAP/SCDAPSIM/MOD4.1. This extended option is currently being implemented for Li-Pb, Pb-Bi, molten salts, and Na.
The thorium molten salt reactor: Moving on from the MSBR
