Energy over the centuries: The IFR option

摘要

The fast spectrum reactor provides the only avenue to control of the overall amounts of plutonium world-wide that also fits naturally into electricity-generation systems. Sufficient plutonium has now been produced, and is currently being produced, that the characteristic that this system possesses to burn plutonium rather than breed it should be the reference configuration for such reactors for a long time. Fuel recycle is the key and recycle with as little plutonium purification as possible is desirable. Such development is taking place within the integral Fast Reactor program and is at the point of demonstration at engineering scale.