CLOSED FUEL CYCLE: Russia’s Dream of Uniting Light-Water, Fast Reactors

摘要

In his remarks to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s general conference in Vienna last week Rosatom head Aleksei Likhachev repeated what has become an increasingly common pitch from Rosatom: the global nuclear industry’s dilemma of finding a long-term solution for the copious amounts of spent fuel around the world might best be solved via a so-called 'duo-component' system of light-water and fast reactors working together in a closed fuel cycle. Russian nuclear planners argue that such a system will obviate the need for the country’s planned BN-1200 fast reactors to compete with the current generation of VVER-1200 pressurized water reactors in terms of construction and operating costs. But the economics of a duo-component system are questionable and the scientific challenges so daunting that if the approach is to be effective, Russia will have to accomplish enormous leaps in VVER technology.