The University of New Brunswick (UNB) and Terrestrial Energy, a vendor of Advanced Reactor power plants, have partnered for integral molten salt reactor (IMSR) validation and verification work. This is part of Terrestrial Energy’s program of regulatory activities required for IMSR power plant deployment.
Molten salts are high-temperature ionic fluids with an advantage: nuclear fuel can be dissolved into the fluids, thus improving the safety case over the current generation of reactors since there is zero possibility of a meltdown.
Initially, UNB researchers will be precisely measuring the thermal and physical properties of the molten salts that are the heat transfer fluid for the ISMR design. IMSR work at UNB is being managed by Dr. William Cook, professor in chemical engineering and director of the Centre for Nuclear Energy Research at UNB.
“UNB students will benefit greatly from exposure to IMSR technology. Everyone here is enthusiastic to be involved in this Canadian-grown project that holds tremendous potential to drive a new age of clean industrial-scale energy,” says Dr. Cook.
The CNER is a university research institute with a formal relationship between UNB and Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, Canada’s premier nuclear research organization, which maintains staff on-site at UNB. This relationship helps ensure that CNER can undertake activities that are compliant with nuclear regulatory standards.
“UNB is well positioned to meet the needs of our IMSR work program, owing to its experience with the SCWR program and the integration of CNL into its nuclear engineering faculty,” said Dr. David LeBlanc, Chief Technology Officer of Terrestrial Energy.
