Re: Breeder reactor: And the winner is... metallic fuel

From: Dez Akin (dezakin_at_usa.net)
Date: 11/19/04 

Date: 19 Nov 2004 11:28:59 -0800

rabbitispoor@bellsouth.net (Tim Miller) wrote in message news:<27afd67f.0411181652.82ce9ab@posting.google.com>...
> > PBMR's have a place to be sure, but breeding and waste incineration
> > isn't among them.
>
> Wrong. See http://www.uic.com.au/nip67.htm

The link cites using thorium pellets in the fuel matrix; This doesn't
give a good breeding ratio, it just uses some thorium. It suffers the
same problem as using thorium in light water reactors. Its not
breeding in the breeder reactor sense, and it certainly isn't waste
incineration.

eunometic@yahoo.com.au (Eunometic) wrote in message news:<e935396a.0411181600.7e464535@posting.google.com>...
>
> That is not quite correct. While the standard HTGR can not breed
> greater than unit the GCFR (Gas cooled fast reactor) which is based on
> similar technology can both breed and burn up waste. The problem with
> these reactors in breeding is their low breeding ratio which limits
> the rate of nuclear expansion.

You really only need high breeding ratio's for weapons development
programs, and you only need fast reactors for primarily plutonium
fuels. It sounds like the fast reactor push of the 70's was a duel-use
argument. I used to be a fast reactor fan, but really they suck.
They're hard to control, expensive, dangerous beasts, whos real
shining quality is making a lot of isotopically pure plutonium fast.

Molten-salt reactors are terribly at making weapons material in
comparison to fast reactors, but they're great at making power,
incinerating waste, and being a hell of a lot safer.

> http://www.nuclear.gov/nerac/antt14Jan_03.pdf
>
> PBMR's are a German technolgy of the early 70s. Like so many good
> ideas in the West they died in infancy strangelled as much by
> economics as the wifull ignoranace of certain green groups. It will
> be left to China and India.

PBMR's, while often better than LWR's are not without flaws. I mostly
play devils advocate here, because I think that building new reactors
is a good idea; I just think that there are better technologies
(molten salts) than the PBMR for large scale civilian power
generation. Though I concede that molten salt reactors are less mature
and more capital intensive than PBMR's, I worry that entheusiasm for
PBMR's is causing us to ignore more promising reactor technologies.

Economic models (flawed as all models are) seeem to indicate that
molten salt reactors would also be the least expensive fuel cycle to
adopt on a large scale basis, eliminating much of the fuel
fabrication, handling and waste management concerns of open cycle fuel
plants.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Breeder reactor: And the winner is... metallic fuel
    ... >> PBMR's have a place to be sure, but breeding and waste incineration ... give a good breeding ratio, ... same problem as using thorium in light water reactors. ... It sounds like the fast reactor push of the 70's was a duel-use ...
    (sci.energy)
  • Re: Breeder reactor: And the winner is... metallic fuel
    ... >> PBMR's have a place to be sure, but breeding and waste incineration ... give a good breeding ratio, ... same problem as using thorium in light water reactors. ... It sounds like the fast reactor push of the 70's was a duel-use ...
    (sci.chem)
  • Re: Breeder reactor: And the winner is... metallic fuel
    ... > give a good breeding ratio, it just uses some thorium. ... > same problem as using thorium in light water reactors. ... It sounds like the fast reactor push of the 70's was a duel-use ...
    (sci.chem)
  • Re: Breeder reactor: And the winner is... metallic fuel
    ... > give a good breeding ratio, it just uses some thorium. ... > same problem as using thorium in light water reactors. ... It sounds like the fast reactor push of the 70's was a duel-use ...
    (sci.physics)
  • Re: Breeder reactor: And the winner is... metallic fuel
    ... > give a good breeding ratio, it just uses some thorium. ... > same problem as using thorium in light water reactors. ... It sounds like the fast reactor push of the 70's was a duel-use ...
    (sci.energy)