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Providing a fundamental understanding of molten salt bulk and interfacial chemistry underpinning molten salt nuclear reactor technology

MSEE Leadership

  • photo of James Wishart
    James Wishart

    MSEE Director
    Brookhaven National Laboratory

    (631) 344-4327

    Conducting pulse radiolysis kinetics measurements of reactions in molten salts, including the yields of primary radiolytic transients and their reactions with metal ion solutes, reactions between intermediate product species and the kinetics and redox energetics of nanoparticle formation

  • photo of Shannon Mahurin
    Shannon Mahurin

    MSEE Deputy Director
    Oak Ridge National Laboratory

    (865) 241-3417

    Using spectroscopy, neutron and x-ray scattering to understand bulk molten salt structure, with a specific emphasis on pair distribution function analysis to examine intermediate and long-range order.

  • photo of Claudio J. Margulis
    Claudio J. Margulis

    Leader, Thrust 1
    University of Iowa

    (319) 335-0615

    Conducting classical and quantum molecular dynamics calculations with the objective of computing X-ray scattering spectra of molten salts, reactivity of excess charges, and calculations to describe the structure and dynamics of molten salts at interfaces.

  • photo of Ruchi Gakhar
    Ruchi Gakhar

    Leader, Thrust 2
    Idaho National Laboratory

    Preparing and characterizing molten salt systems containing transition metals, lanthanides and actinides, and applying structural (X-ray) and spectroscopic (X-ray, UV-Vis and Raman) techniques to deduce metal ion speciation.

  • photo of Karen Chen-Wiegart
    Karen Chen-Wiegart

    Leader, Thrust 3
    Stony Brook University,
    Brookhaven National Laboratory

    631) 632-4537

    Understanding the interaction between molten salts and metallic materials, including the effects of impurities on corrosion phenomena with synchrotron X-ray microscopy and spectroscopy.

  • photo of Gregory P. Holmbeck
    Gregory P. Holmbeck

    Leader, Radiation Crosscut
    Idaho National Laboratory

    Conducting steady-state molten salt radiation chemistry experiments with and without the presence of actinide elements at INL and handling the manipulations for actinide-molten salt pulse radiolysis experiments at BNL’s LEAF facility.