Evaporation behavior of Pa in FLiBeZr molten salt.

In thorium molten salt reactors (TMSR), Pa is an important intermediate nuclide in the conversion chain of Th to U, its timely separation from the fuel salt is critically important for both the thorium-uranium (Th-U) fuel cycle and the neutron economy of the reactor. In this study, the evaporation behavior of Pa in the FLiBeZr molten salt was investigated during a vacuum distillation process. The separation characteristics between Pa and the major components of the fuel (salt and fission products) were evaluated in a calculation of the separation factors between these components.