Fast breeder reactor: Difference between revisions
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imported>Howard C. Berkowitz (Interim pipe to plutonium reprocessing, which needs its own article) |
imported>Howard C. Berkowitz No edit summary |
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| date = 17 July 2006 journal = Scientific American | | date = 17 July 2006 journal = Scientific American | ||
| title = How do fast breeder reactors differ from regular nuclear power plants? | | title = How do fast breeder reactors differ from regular nuclear power plants? | ||
| author = P. Andrew Karam }}</ref> The reactor product is not immediately usable as fuel, but requires complex and hazardous [[ | | author = P. Andrew Karam }}</ref> The reactor product is not immediately usable as fuel, but requires complex and hazardous [[plutonium reprocessing]]. | ||
There has been hesitancy to use this design, over concerns on weapons-grade plutonium becoming too widely available. Only two, neither of which is operational, have been built in the U.S. | There has been hesitancy to use this design, over concerns on weapons-grade plutonium becoming too widely available. Only two, neither of which is operational, have been built in the U.S. | ||
==References== | ==References== | ||
{{reflist}} | {{reflist}} | ||
Revision as of 06:54, 7 May 2010
A fast breeder reactor is a nuclear power reactor in whose design tradeoffs have been made not to produce the ideal heat for power generation, but to produce reasonable heat but also a substantial amount of high-energy neutrons that will make ("breed") potential nuclear fuel of an appropriate plutonium isotope. Economically, it seems attractive when a reactor can produce 30 percent more fuel than it burns.[1] The reactor product is not immediately usable as fuel, but requires complex and hazardous plutonium reprocessing.
There has been hesitancy to use this design, over concerns on weapons-grade plutonium becoming too widely available. Only two, neither of which is operational, have been built in the U.S.
References
- ↑ P. Andrew Karam (17 July 2006 journal = Scientific American), How do fast breeder reactors differ from regular nuclear power plants?