Structure and Kinetic Properties of a Molten FLiBe Mixture with Tritium

Russian Journal of Physical Chemistry A, 2023, Vol. 97, No. 12, pp. 2656–2664

A. Y. Galashev, A. F. Anisimov, and A. S. Vorob’ev

Abstract—A study is performed of the self-diffusion of tritium and fluorine atoms, and the change in the structure of molten FLiBe upon raising the temperature of the system from 873 to 1073 K. The interaction between neutrons and both lithium and beryllium in molten-salt reactors (MSR) using FLiBe as a fuel salt results in the formation of large amounts of tritium. Tritium, which easily penetrates metallic structural materials at high temperatures, is a radionuclide hazard. Predictive models for the behavior of tritium in a molten fluoride salt must therefore be developed to solve the problem of MSR safety. The emergence of tritium in the system increases the average energy of interatomic bonds upon raising the temperature and concentration of tritium in the system. A rise in temperature is also accompanied by fluorine atoms creating a closer shortrange order in the environment of tritium atoms. This is expressed in the formation of a high first peak of radial distribution function g_T-F(r), an increase in the number of probable geometric neighbors, which is shown by Voronoi polyhedra, and fluorine atoms giving priority to fourth-order rotational symmetry in the environment of tritium atoms.

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