High temperatures and ionizing radiation create extremely corrosive environments inside a nuclear reactor. To design ...

Chemists report that radiation-induced chemical reactions may help mitigate the corrosion of metals in a new type of nuclear reactor cooled by molten salts.

The scientists heated a mixture of sodium nitrate and potassium nitrate to 662°F until it became liquid, then used argon gas to pass two hydrogen isotopes through the molten salt.