ORNL-TM-7207 - the Molten Salt Energy Technologies Web Site

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probably could be developed in about 30 years; with additional support
%or IID&D, the technology for on-Bine fuel processing could be developed
on about the same time schedule.
Although the DMSR characterizations presented in this report are ap-
proximate, they provide as much detail as is justified by the very pre-
liminary status of the system conceptual design. -Any effort to substan-
tially improve the quality and detail of the characterizations would have
to be accompanied by a significant system design effort oriented toward
a specific DMSW power plant. Costs and times required for such studies
would be several times as large as those for the preliminary work and
probably could be justified only if a national decision were made to re-
establish a federally funded MSR program.
Any MSR program of substantial size presumably would include an RD&D
effort of some size to support effective pursuit of program goals. This
work, in turn, would be complemented by the design studies which would
help to define RD&D tasks and focus the entire effort. The combination
would allow the attainment of objectives on the shortest practical time
schedule 8
From the preliminary studies reported, a once-through DMSR without
on-line fuel processing apparently would be the most reasonable choice
for development if an RD6D program were established, Nowever, parallel
development of the technology for ~ontin~ous fuel processing would add
only moderately to the total progrm cost and could provide the option
of a more resource-efficient (and possibly a cheaper) fuel cycle.
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