Development of pyro-processing technology for thorium-fuelled molten salt reactor

The Molten Salt Reactor (MSR) is classified as the non-classical nuclear reactor type based on the specific features coming out from the use of liquid fuel circulating in the MSR primary circuit. Other uniqueness of the reactor type is based on the fact that the primary circuit of the reactor is directly connected with the on-line reprocessing technology, necessary for keeping the reactor in operation for a long run. MSR is the only reactor system, which can be effectively operated within the 232 Th – 233 U fuel cycle as thorium breeder with the breeding factor significantly higher than one. The fuel cycle technologies proposed as ford the fresh thorium fuel processing as for the primary circuit fuel reprocessing are pyrochemical and mainly fluoride. Although these pyrochemical processes were never previously fully verified, the present-day development anticipates an assumption for the successful future deployment of the thorium-fuelled MSR technology.