09/25/2026
By Dongming Xie
The Alfred A. Donatelli Endowed Chemical Engineering Seminar presents “Molten Salts and Nuclear Reactors: A Matter of Chemistry” by Dr. Lorenzo Vergari, assistant professor and director of ABC Lab, Department of Nuclear, Plasma and Radiological Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- Date: Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026
- Time: 3:30 – 4:45 p.m.
- Location: Falmouth 209, North Campus, UML
Abstract
Due to their advantageous thermophysical and neutronic properties, molten salts are proposed in a variety of roles across advanced fission reactors, both fast and thermal spectrum, and fusion reactors, both inertial and magnetic confinement, to help achieve high operating temperatures, intrinsic safety and improved economics in power generation. In all these systems, the chemical behavior of molten salts is crucial to reactor design needs, such as corrosion mitigation, tritium management, online sensing and isotope separation. This talk will provide an introduction to molten salt chemistry, discuss how molten salt physical and chemical properties affect their behavior in nuclear reactors, provide examples of the outstanding chemistry and materials challenges, and describe how the Advanced Blankets & Coolants Lab at UIUC is working toward addressing them.
Bio
Dr. Lorenzo Vergari is an assistant professor in Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering and director of the ABC Lab at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Vergari holds a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley; an M.S. in Energy and Nuclear Engineering from Politecnico di Torino; an M.S. in Nuclear Engineering from Politecnico di Milano; and a B.S. in Energy Engineering from Politecnico di Milano.
For more information, please contact Dr. Stephen Lam (Stephen_Lam@uml.edu) or Dr. Dongming Xie (Dongming_Xie@uml.edu).