When considering scenarios having low-carbon energy and long-term energy security, nuclear power undoubtedly features in the energy mix. However, current technologies are unsuitable for small countries due to the greater than sixteen kilometres safety radius requirement. Coupled with high capital investments, public concerns, and the geopolitical issues involved in the transportation of fissile and spent fuels, any form of commercial nuclear power plant deployments become unlikely.

To address these issues, recent scientific developments have focused on two key approaches: alternative fuel cycles and advanced reactor systems. For my master’s thesis, I have chosen the latter - molten salt reactors (MSRs). They are promising today primarily due to them being thorium fuel cycle or spent fuel burner prospects. A liquid-fuelled MSR not only possesses inherent safety traits, but may also mitigate many of the materials limitations posed by solid-fuelled designs, allowing higher fuel burn-ups as a result. Nevertheless, a key challenge in thermal spectrum MSRs is that of graphite moderator degradation, which necessitates replacements almost every four years. Therefore, I am interested in using Monte Carlo simulations to first investigate the moderation properties of fullerenes and then to explore the potential of using them to trap harmful transuranic radioisotopes.