Natura Receives 1960s US Nuclear Coolant for Texas Molten Salt Reactor

Natura Resources received a batch of FLiBE salt coolant from the US Department of Energy on September 18 for its MSR-1 molten salt demonstration reactor under construction at Abilene Christian University in Texas. The salt, with 99.99% lithium-7 enrichment, was used in the MSRE experiment from 1965 to 1969.

• FLiBE with 99.99% lithium-7 reduces tritium formation in the reactor
• Salt traveled from Oak Ridge to Idaho National Laboratory, then Texas
• The 1965–1969 MSRE experiment logged over 13,000 hours
• In July the DOE approved a safety agreement for the site