Sharryn Dotson reports in 2015 that breeder reactors are not a new idea in the global nuclear industry, but the technology has not been widely used in the U.S. compared to other countries. The Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois is widely considered the trailblazer in developing fast-reactor technology, and other nations have followed suit by using the Argonne design as a starting point in developing their own breeder reactor technologies.
Though U.S. companies tend to lean toward light and boiling water reactors to power their plants, many are starting to look for newer ways of both generating electricity and burning nuclear waste in order to avoid a future issue of spent nuclear fuel storage space. The Electric Power Research Institute is a non-profit organization that performs research and development to support safe, reliable, and affordable electric power for the benefit of the public. EPRI conducts research across the electric power sector. For nuclear, this strategic focus includes assessment of advanced nuclear reactor and fuel cycle technologies.
Most of these advanced reactors use different coolants, such as gases, liquid metals and molten salts, and many operate using fast neutrons - as opposed to slower thermal neutrons in LWRs - and or substantially higher temperatures to provide access to new capabilities, like breeding of new fuel, and efficient generation of non-electricity products - e.g., hydrogen generation and water desalination. South Korea announced in that the country could run out of spent nuclear fuel storage capacity by 2016. The PGSFR could help maintain the amount of spent fuel, but the design approval is not scheduled to go before Korea licensing authority until 2020, and potentially have the reactor commissioned by the end of 2028. In near term, this reactor will not be commercial, so they will have to adopt interim storage anyway, but they have longer-term vision and longer-term solutions, Chang said.
Original working URL: https://www.power-eng.com/articles/npi/print/volume-8/issue-2/nucleus/in-with-the-old.html
Managed & Built by I2M Consulting, LLC | © 2010-
