Dr. Mouna Saoudi, Senior Materials Scientist, Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL), will give a talk entitled "Advances in Thermophysical Properties Determination of Molten Salts and an Overview of Fuel Salt Synthesis and Characterization Strategies"

December 05, 2025

@10:10 am, 440 Goodwin Hall, Blacksburg (in-person); 6-051 VTRC, Arlington
For remote access, click here.

Abstract
The Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) is developing experimental capabilities to synthesize fuel salts in support of determining thermophysical properties and investigating fission product release for molten salt reactors (MSRs). Experimental studies in these areas require reliable experimental protocols for measuring the thermophysical properties of liquid salts that are hygroscopic and highly corrosive. They also require high-purity salts to ensure that the obtained data, required to benchmark computational models, are representative of the pure reference fuel salt mixtures and are not impacted by the presence of impurities.
The objective of this work is to optimize laboratory-scale synthesis processes for producing high purity chloride and fluoride actinide salts. As part of this effort, a phased approach has been undertaken to develop synthesis protocols along with characterization techniques to evaluate the effects of different parameters on the fuel salt purity.

This presentation will outline recent advances in the determination of thermophysical properties for chloride and fluoride molten salt systems, with a focus on improved encapsulation techniques and methods for measuring impurities, melting point, heat of fusion, specific heat capacity, and thermal conductivity. An overview of the planned fuel salt synthesis activities will be provided. Ongoing research efforts will be highlighted, along with potential opportunities for collaboration.

Bio

Dr. Saoudi is a Senior Materials Scientist in the Advanced Fuels & Reactor Physics Branch at Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL). She leads the Nuclear Materials Group and serves as the Principal Investigator of “Fuel Salt Synthesis”, “Thermophysical Properties of Molten Salts”, and “Graphite Degradation Behaviour” projects funded by the Federal Nuclear S&T Work Plan. She has more than 22 years of demonstrated experience in performing materials research. Her areas of expertise include actinide salt synthesis, thermophysical properties of nuclear fuels, structural materials and molten salts, and advanced characterization of irradiated fuel microstructure. Dr. Saoudi has been active in the Generation IV International Forum (GIF) since 2019, serving on the Molten Salt Reactor (MSR) provisional System Steering Committee (pSSC) and the Very High Temperature Reactor (VHTR) Materials Project Management Board (PMB). She is also a member of the GIF VHTR Graphite Working Group and the Canadian Nuclear Society (CNS).

Prior to joining CNL, she was a Materials Scientist at Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) and a postdoctoral fellow at the Canadian Neutron Beam Centre (CNBC) at Chalk River Laboratories (CRL). Dr. Saoudi received her PhD in Solid State Physics-Materials from the University of Badji Mokhtar Annaba, Algeria, in collaboration with the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) in Grenoble (2002).