About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2026 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Materials and Chemistry for Molten Salt Systems
|
| Presentation Title |
Modeling Radiation Damage in FLiBe Molten Fluoride Salt |
| Author(s) |
Adria Peterkin, Blas Uberuaga, Mike Short |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Adria Peterkin |
| Abstract Scope |
Molten fluoride salts, such as FLiBe, will potentially be used as fuel or coolant and breeding blankets in nuclear fission and fusion reactors. In this study, we demonstrate that radiation can alter the chemical properties of these salts by breaking complex fluorine structures. Measuring fluoroacidity, the amount of free fluoride ions available in the salt, reveals these impacts. Previous experiments have shown that fluoroacidity affects corrosion rates of metals in contact with these salts. However, it is unclear how radiation damage affects the fluoracidity, and further, the corrosion of the salt. Here we use molecular dynamics to model radiation effects in FLiBe. We analyze radial distribution functions to measure the change in fluoroacidity due to irradiation. The results for FLiBe show changes in chemical structure after the PKA; however, further analysis will quantify this change. We anticipate that this analysis will serve as a foundational assessment for understanding radiation effects in FLiBe corrosion. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: |
| Keywords |
Nuclear Materials, Computational Materials Science & Engineering, Modeling and Simulation |