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The French Liquid-Metal Fast Breeder Reactor Program

The French Liquid-Metal Fast Breeder Reactor Program 31-33 rue de la Federation, In any operating nuclear reactor, new fissile isotopes are formed by transmutation of fertile isotopes even as fissile isotopes are consumed. In slow-neutron, or "thermal" reactors, which are the backbone of nuclear programs throughout the world today, more fissile isotopes are consumed than are reproduced. The fuel therefore rapidly loses its usefulness and must be removed, even though it contains a substantial portion of untransformed fertile isotopes. Fast-neutron reactors, however, have a neutron balance that is particularly conducive to greater production than consumption of fissile isotopes. This is the so-called "breeding" phenomenon. This pro­ perty, while remarkable, is by no means miraculous. It is simply the consequence of the numerical values of the nuclear properties of heavy nuclides; this has been known since the earliest fission experiments. What gives the breeding phenomenon such appeal today is that the reactors that use it can make a crucial contribution to the problem of world energy supply in the long term. The preceding considerations provide a glimpse of the fast-neutron reactor's attractiveness in long-term energy planning for a country like France, one of the most industrialized countries in the world yet one of the poorest in http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Annual Review of Environment and Resources Annual Reviews

The French Liquid-Metal Fast Breeder Reactor Program

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Publisher
Annual Reviews
Copyright
Copyright 1984 Annual Reviews. All rights reserved
Subject
Review Articles
ISSN
1543-5938
DOI
10.1146/annurev.eg.09.110184.001403
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

31-33 rue de la Federation, In any operating nuclear reactor, new fissile isotopes are formed by transmutation of fertile isotopes even as fissile isotopes are consumed. In slow-neutron, or "thermal" reactors, which are the backbone of nuclear programs throughout the world today, more fissile isotopes are consumed than are reproduced. The fuel therefore rapidly loses its usefulness and must be removed, even though it contains a substantial portion of untransformed fertile isotopes. Fast-neutron reactors, however, have a neutron balance that is particularly conducive to greater production than consumption of fissile isotopes. This is the so-called "breeding" phenomenon. This pro­ perty, while remarkable, is by no means miraculous. It is simply the consequence of the numerical values of the nuclear properties of heavy nuclides; this has been known since the earliest fission experiments. What gives the breeding phenomenon such appeal today is that the reactors that use it can make a crucial contribution to the problem of world energy supply in the long term. The preceding considerations provide a glimpse of the fast-neutron reactor's attractiveness in long-term energy planning for a country like France, one of the most industrialized countries in the world yet one of the poorest in

Journal

Annual Review of Environment and Resources – Annual Reviews

Published: Nov 1, 1984

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