[kennend3]

I noticed you focused almost exclusively on the welding while ignoring the brittle nature of glass?

I would think that putting liquid salt in a a glass pipe is somewhat asking for trouble. One of the many issues with glass is "thermal shock".

Let's say there is a fire and water based sprinklers are activated.. what will the 1,400F glass do once water touches it?

Or there is an accident and someone bangs into the glass. Metal can deform and not fail, glass cant.

[mulmen]

“Glass” is a generic term for a wide variety of materials. So is “metal”. Metal can be brittle, sometimes that’s even desirable. That’s what tempering and hardening are about.

A molten salt reactor is a material science problem. Conventional “metal” doesn’t work because of the corrosion. If glass has some desirable property then we can overcome the “bumping in to it” problem. Maybe with a hand rail. Or staying away from the operational nuclear reactor.

I’m not suggesting glass actually be used. I’m saying if it was I wouldn’t be surprised.