Abstract The partial structure factors S++, S+- and 5−in molten salts are considered at small wavenumber k and the following results are established : (i) the term of order k2 in S++ - S– is determined by the difference in partial volumes of the two ionic species; (ii) a term of order k3 arises in the Sys from the presence of van der Waals dipole-dipole interactions; (iii) the charge-charge structure factor, S++ + S– - 2S+- , is determined at order k4 by the true screening length of the system and affected by van der Waals interactions only at order K 5. Similar expansions are reported for the corresponding direct correlation functions, which are of interest for fluctuation theories of the surface properties of these liquids. All the relevant coefficients in the various expansions (both those that reflect the thermodynamic fluctuation behaviour of the liquid and those that reflect its microscopic behaviour) are evaluated for a charged-hard-spheres model of the family of molten alkali halides in the mean s...