Christian M. Sclafani, M.Eng., B.S.E.

BIOGRAPHY

Christian Sclafani, M.Eng., B.S.E., joined the SALT group in 2019 and is currently pursuing his Masters of Science in Nuclear Engineering at Cal. When he is not hiking, or snowboarding the freshly dusted mountains of California, he likes to ponder the many unknowns of the universe and wonder how he can help to progress humanity’s standard of living. He has deep interests in extraterrestrial exploration and would like to someday run an aerospace company which aids in the privatization of human spaceflight.

PROJECTS

Christian is currently investigating the how Beryllium-Fluoride salts corrode 316H Stainless Steel while flowing in a loop over time, in collaboration with an industry sponsor Thorcon Power, to understand if this material can be used in ThorCon’s Molten Salt Reactor. A natural circulation molten salt loop has been designed and fabricated to house sample coupons of316H SS, on which he will conduct his research.

Christian also works closely with the Molten Salt Thermal Properties Working Group (MSTPWG), where he has helped organize an international Round Robin, where two different salts prepared at Oak Ridge National Lab, have been shipped to over twenty organizations and will be characterized using multiple techniques, to create benchmarks for both the salts, and the techniques used.

Christian is also very intrigued by the thermoelectric effect, and has been working to design an experiment to determine the thermopower of select molten salts. This project aims to show the merit of using thermoelectric generators instead of traditional steam generators for global power production.

Christian also spends time mentoring undergraduate and high school students whom are interested in STEM fields.

INSTRUMENTS AND TECHNIQUES

Glovebox Certified
High Temperature Beryllium Salt Certified
Cutter and Polisher Certified
Microwave Digester Certified
Machine Shop Certified

UNDERGRADUATE and HIGH SCHOOL RESEARCH MENTORING

Rob Atienza (University of California, Berkeley) – ThorCon Power Salt Property Analyst – 2022
Joshua Paul (University of California, Berkeley) – ThorCon Power Mechanical Designer – 2022
Nathan Kotni (Cupertino High School) – Molten Salt Round Robin 1.0 Data Analyst – 2021
Alessio Thorpe (El Toro High School) – Molten Salt Round Robin 1.0 Data Analyst – 2021

RECENT AWARDS/RECOGNITIONS

ANS 2022 Student Conference Best Poster Presentation Award for “Molten Salt Glovebox Design”
Molten Salt Glovebox Design Poster Presentation

PUBLICATIONS
Publications will be updated when more relevant documents are available.
Link to ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1982-8305