UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa., July 13 -- Pennsylvania State University issued the following news release:
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. - Nuclear reactors are traditionally powered with dense fuel rods that can produce about one gigawatt of carbon-free electricity daily, enough to power about 100,000,000 lightbulbs. Newer power plant designs using molten salt for cooling instead of the water found in traditional reactors could offer even better efficiency and stability, but they face a problem - the extreme chemical environment created by the molten salt can corrode the metal comprising the reactor.
A team led by engineers at Penn State found that adjusting the subtle atomic arrangement of structural metals can significantly affect the rate and extent of...