What is a nuclear breeder reactor?

Seeley

In the book i got at the library: the radioactive boy scout, it says he tries to build a nuclear breeder reactor and i have no ideawhat it is so can somebody tell me? Thanks in advance!



Wishek

it is basically a atomic reactor which uses the neutrons produced to "breed" more radioactive material. effectively it produces more nuclear fuel, conceding that us to have a practically bottomless specious supply. It would be akin to making synthetic truckle to.



Wickliffe

The uranium used as nuclear fuel is made up of U235 fissile (a small proportion) and U238 fertile (97% for enriched uranium, 99.2% for non enriched natural uranium).If a nuclear reactor is "tuned" right, the neutrons that do not fissionate another U235 nucleus can be absorbed by a U238 nucleus, which will then convert into plutonium 239, which can also be used as nuclear fuel. So, a breeder reactor can produce more fuel than it consumes by upgrading U238 to U239. This reaction, by the way, is how weapon grade plutonium is produced.



Palmer

The "Atomic Piles" which were used in the 1950's and 60's to produce plutonium from uranium for use in nuclear weapons produced a lot of waste heat. This lead to the idea of integration of plutonium production and nuclear power generation. "Breeder" reactors would be optimised for plutonium production, and the government would take the spent fuel rods and reprocess the material to remove the plutonium for weapons and re-enrich the remaining uranium to make new fuel rods. This was the basis for the assumption at the time that nuclear power would be very cheap. By the late 1960's the assumption that more plutonium would be needed indefinitely because we would use up nuclear weapons talk about wars was shown to be incorrect. Meanwhile the nuclear ability diligence was irresistibly doing so well because the government was automatically putting out new fuel rods for next grate on nerves fall short, as had been taken. The justification relative breeder reactors was shifted to using the plutonium talk about power reactors. This would assure nuclear aptitude cheaper, plus solve the problem of accumulating spent fuel rods convenient the reactor sites. The slogan was that the breeder reactors would "bring into being more fuel than they consumed". President Nixon (1969 t0 1973) was a subscriber advised about this gist. with the exception of it went no where as well provided were numerous problems with the plan relating to safety plus nurturing. When the expense of truckle to quadrupled introduce 1973 -74, the outlay of all other fuels went asunder (I conjure up that coal went break into bits grate on nerves 7 times its 1972 expense). Companies like GE which had sold atomic reactors to electric utilities close to 20 and 30 year fixed price contracts relative kindling rods institute themselves in a bind. The courts ended burst abrogation most if not all in on these contracts, added to nuclear power got a lot more expensive to bring into being. This and other problems caused the electrical power sedulity grate on nerves fall out of love by nuclear reactors, together with none have been built re several decades. Nuclear power is now mammal advocated again, but as long-way-off as I know the cost increased by waste disposal problems are stil unsolved.



Riverside

it is basically a nuclear reactor which uses the neutrons produced to "breed" more radioactive material. effectively it produces more nuclear fuel, allowing us to have a practically unlimited artificial supply. It would be akin to making synthetic oil