University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Masters Theses Graduate School 5-2019 STUDY OF THE DYNAMIC BEHAVIOR OF MOLTEN-SALT REACTORS Vikram Singh University of Tennessee Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes Recommended Citation Singh, Vikram, "STUDY OF THE DYNAMIC BEHAVIOR OF MOLTEN-SALT REACTORS. " Master's Thesis, University of Tennessee, 2019. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/5482 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Vikram Singh entitled "STUDY OF THE DYNAMIC BEHAVIOR OF MOLTEN-SALT REACTORS." I have examined the final electronic copy of this thesis for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, with a major in Nuclear Engineering. Belle Upadhyaya, Major Professor We have read this thesis and recommend its acceptance: Ondřej Chvála, Laurence Miller, Lawrence Heilbronn Accepted for the Council: Dixie L. Thompson Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) STUDY OF THE DYNAMIC BEHAVIOR OF MOLTEN-SALT REACTORS A Thesis Presented for the Master of Science Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Vikram Singh May 2019 Copyright © 2019 by Vikram Singh. All rights reserved. ii DEDICATION I dedicate this thesis to my mother Anu Singh, for the boundless love she showed me and for her ceaseless devotion to my education and upbringing. I dedicate this to my father Suresh Singh, who strived through long, hard days, every season of every year, to provide for our family. His patience, perseverance, sacrifice, and selfless commitment to our family has been a bedrock of inspiration that has motivated me to do my very best at every endeavor. I am grateful that the lottery of birth brought me to their humble abode, and I owe them for everything I am and everything I ever will be. I dedicate this work to my little sister, Varsha Singh. She is my most priceless possession, my harshest critic, and my best friend. Oh! how we would tease each other, how we would quarrel and then make peace, and how we couldn’t live without one another. She made every day more tolerable, every season more comfortable, every occasion more delightful, and I love her with all my heart. And finally, I dedicate this work to my wife, Samantha Anne-Marie Singh. In our three years together, we have traveled coast to coast, driven through mountains and canyons, swam in ocean reefs, and our love grows stronger each passing day. She has been my pillar of strength, my angel of hope, my light in darkness that brings comfort to my soul. Only I know of the sacrifices she has made, and the struggles that we have been through, so that I could reach this milestone. I am thankful for her unconditional love, and I am excited for what the future holds. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank Dr. Belle R. Upadhyaya and Dr. Ondřej Chvála, for serving as my major professors and taking care of me during my time here. They found me worthy of doing this project and their advice, compassionate guidance, constant inspiration, and valuable suggestions during this work have bettered me both as a scientist and a person. They graced me with their wisdom and humility, and for that I shall remain eternally grateful. I would also like to extend my appreciation to committee members, Dr. Laurence F. Miller and Dr. Lawrence H. Heilbronn, for lending me their valuable time. Their helpful comments and suggestions made this a better thesis. I also had the opportunity to work with Dr. Miller on other research projects, and I sincerely appreciate his support and encouragement. I am also grateful to Dr. J. Wesley Hines, department head of UTNE, for accepting me into the Nuclear Engineering graduate program and for providing me with a graduate teaching assistantship that helped me make ends meet. I would also like to thank the entire faculty and staff at UTNE for all they do to make our lives easier as grad students. I am deeply indebted to Dr. Matthew R. Lish and Alexander M. Wheeler who worked extremely hard with me on these projects. I will forever cherish the time I got to spend with them and the myriad conversations we had about all things nuclear. As I move on to the next stretch of life’s journey, I shall strive to see that our friendship remains everlasting. The research presented here would not have been possible if not for the generous financial support from Flibe Energy Inc. and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Mr. Kirk Sorensen, founder of Flibe Energy, who revived molten-salt reactors in the 21st century, gave me an internship opportunity that brought me to Knoxville. He inspired me to seek a graduate degree at UT, and I am thankful that we met on that sunny morning in July 2016. I would also like to thank Dr. Lou Qualls, national technical director for MSRs, who considered us deserving of working on his project ahead of other groups in the nation. In all my interactions with him he offered nothing but humility, and I am deeply appreciative for his generosity. I would also like to acknowledge Dr. M. Scott Greenwood who coordinated the ORNL research project with our group, and with whom I have had hours of discussion on these research topics. I must also thank Mr. Dave Earnshaw, Mr. Dave Copeland, and Dr. Jason Lillegraven, of Laramie, who are fierce advocates for MSRs. They rekindled my interest in nuclear reactors and constantly supported me through my time as a graduate student, and they have been instrumental in my achievements. During this work, I also had the esteemed honor of meeting Dr. Tom Kerlin and Mr. Syd Ball, stalwarts of the molten-salt reactor program at ORNL. Over the course of the last two years, we had quite a few meetings that yielded eventful discussion. Much of the research presented here draws heavily from the work they pioneered in the 1960s, and I am thankful to both for offering me their valuable time. iv I would not be the person I am today if not for my teachers at B.M. School, who patiently taught me everything from the English alphabet to algebra and geometry. Some teachers who I fondly remember are Ms. Lily, Ms. Manjula, and Ms. Shamala. They stood up to the school’s motto, A Passion for Excellence, and imbued in me a deep desire for learning. I am especially grateful to Dr. S. Rajesh, and Mr. K.S.V. Subramaniam, for supporting my primary education with benevolent scholarships and for mentoring me through my formative years. My high school education took place in the venerable St. Joseph’s PUC and I am grateful to Mr. Sandesh, Ms. Nirmala, Mr. C.R.R., and Mr. C.N.S, who were fantastic teachers and constant pillars of support. Special thanks go to my alma mater, the University of Wyoming, that provided me with generous scholarships and granted me a world-class education. I am especially thankful to my undergraduate advisor, Dr. Michael S. Brotherton, for being a great friend and a confidant. A lot of the success that I have enjoyed during the last eight years can be attributed to his mentoring. Besides teaching me astrophysics and cosmology, he trained me to think like a scientist and I am immensely fortunate to have had him as my advisor. I also want to thank Ms. Jill Johnson, Ms. Jane Grzybowski, and Ms. Maria Almendares, of the UW International Students and Scholars office, who were instrumental in getting me to the U.S. and for expanding my horizons. I would also like to acknowledge Dr. Duncan Harris of the UW Honors Program for his counseling and mentorship. I am also grateful to Dr. Robert Gehrz, department head of Astronomy, at University of Minnesota, for the excellent class on Modern Astronomy that he taught, and for the many hours of great conversation we had. Also acknowledged are Ms. Elizabeth Greenlee and Ms. Kathrine Russell of UMN, for helping me hone my leadership skills. I would like to thank my friends from Laramie – Vivek, Bill, Derek, Nate, Josh, Hunter, Kate, Kelly, Pradyumn, Isuru, Thushara, Vickum, Rik, Vishal, Amit, Vaibhav, Shishir and many others; my friends from my time in Minneapolis – Shoubhik, Joe, Adam, Josie, Natalie, Steph and others; friends from Knoxville – Matt, Alex, Shayan, Ayan, Sasha, Zack and others. They have showered me with their love, trusted me with their loyalty and companionship, and have cheered me on as I took up one challenge after another. I thank my friends from India – Kiran, Rajesh, Rahul, Afroz, Almaz, Manohar, Deepak, Ansar, Vaibhav and others – who always kept me in their thoughts. My appreciation also extends to my two grandmas, all my cousins, my uncles and aunts, my in-laws, and to all my relatives who have encouraged me through thick and thin. And lastly, as a secular humanist, I worship only the Universe – the Earth, Moon, Sun, and the stars. I am indebted to the air, water and warmth on this planet that has sheltered me for a whole 26 revolutions around its parent star. For billions of years and trillions of miles, as an unfathomable number of atoms danced their way through space minding their own business, somewhere in that grand cosmic affair for a brief few moments the atoms became me, and I became them, experiencing a happy little existence.