Magnetohydrodynamic considerations are shown to be of paramount importance in self-cooled liquid-metal blankets for fusion reactors. Coupling of the stress and MHD pressure drop through the conduit wall thickness is such that, self-cooled liquid-metal blankets without electrical insulators may not be feasible, unless acceptable designs that address satisfactorily MHD-related constraints can be developed. Such an acceptable design, based on current understanding and available analyses and/or experimental data on high Hartmann number, high interaction parameter MHD, is presented. The confidence in the success of the design is directly related to uncertainties on the validity of assumptions necessary to carry out the MHD calculations. Thus, the need for developing analytical tools, supported by experiment is identified and a program for addressing this need is formulated. The experimental facility and the first tests are outlined and the broad goals of companion analytical work are discussed.