Breeder reactors: Difference between revisions

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-Breeder reactors are [[nuclear]] fission reactors that make better use of nuclear fuels. This could solve the problem of uranium scarcity, and also reduce [[nuclear waste]].
+Nuclear fission '''breeder reactors''' are a possible alternative to [[conventional nuclear power]]. They could overcome some of its main problems.
-Breeder reactors are '''not currently''' ready for deployment.
+{{considerations}} __NOTOC__
-{|class="wikitable"
+==Status quo==
-|Risk of weapons proliferation
+{{sum|Not in use}}
-|Major concern
+The only breeder reactors that exist are experimental/research-based, not providing electricity on a commercial scale. <!-- TALK: could we replace the word "commercial" with something more universal w.r.t. both capitalism and communism? -->
-|-
-|Breeder rate
-|Major limitation (slow)
-|-
-|Fuel supply
-|{{gcell}}Abundant
-|-
-|Nuclear waste
-|{{gcell}}Almost none
-|}
-==Fuels==
+==Fuel supply==
+{{sum|Abundant|good}}
-Uranium occurs in nature as a mix of isotopes: uranium-235 (0.7%) and uranium-238 (99.3%). This proportion does not vary much within the Earth's crust.
+Breeder reactors can obtain [[energy]] from [[thorium-232]] and [[uranium-238]], which are far more abundant on Earth than the uranium-235 used in [[conventional nuclear reactors]].
-* Today's nuclear reactors <small>(not breeder reactors)</small> can only get their [[energy]] from uranium-235 (U235). {{x|Technically the nuclear reactions are a bit more complex than that, but still limited by the scarcity of U235.}}
-* Breeder reactors can get energy from the more abundant uranium-238 (U238).
-Breeder reactors can also make use of [[thorium]]-232, which is similarly abundant.
+This means that fuel scarcity would no-longer be a reason why nuclear power can't scale up and replace [[fossil fuels]]. Breeder reactor fuels, while not ''renewable'', have mineral reserves are far greater than fossil fuels (in terms of [[energy]]).
+<!-- TODO: add calculations -->
+==Breeder rate==
+{{sum|Probably a major limitation}}
-This is a more complex process than simple nuclear reactors, because thorium and U238 are not ''fissile'' materials, only ''fertile'' materials. They have to be "bred" to become fissile materials such as U233, U235, or plutonium-239.
+Uranium-238 & thorium-232 are not directly ''fissionable'' {{light|(unlike uranium-235)}}, but they are ''fertile'' which means they can be "bred" to become fissionable materials. This where the term "breeder reactor" comes from.
-Breeder reactors still need ''some'' fissile material to function, but they produce ''more'' of it than what they started with. A breeder reactor's ''doubling-time'' is a useful way to measure this: how long it takes for the reactor to produce twice as much fissile material as it started with. Breeder reactors ''so far'' have a doubling-time of over 100 years, unfortunately. {{p|Example quoted from [https://energyeducation.ca/encyclopedia/Breeder_reactor energyeducation.ca]:<br /><q>Thorium hasn't been used in large scale reactors, however some reactors have used it successfully in the past. A light water breeder reactor in Shippingport, Pa. USA operated for 5 years, and by the end of its operation it had 1.4% more fissile fuel than it began with.</q><br /><br />This cites another source:<br /><small>World Nuclear Association. (June 19 2015). Thorium [Online], Available: http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/Current-and-Future-Generation/Thorium/#b</small>}} Scientists are trying to get this down to 10 years. Even in such a case, '''it would still take decades''' to breed enough fuel to meet global energy demands.
+For this process to work, breeder reactors still need to start with ''some'' fissile material, but they produce ''more'' of it than what they started with. A breeder reactor's ''doubling-time'' is a useful way to measure this: how long it takes for the reactor to produce twice as much fissile material as it started with. Breeder reactors ''so far'' have a doubling-time of over 100 years, unfortunately.
+<ref>Example quoted from [https://energyeducation.ca/encyclopedia/Breeder_reactor energyeducation.ca]:<br /><q>Thorium hasn't been used in large scale reactors, however some reactors have used it successfully in the past. A light water breeder reactor in Shippingport, Pa. USA operated for 5 years, and by the end of its operation it had 1.4% more fissile fuel than it began with.</q><br /><br />This cites another source:<br /><small>World Nuclear Association. (June 19 2015). Thorium [Online], Available: http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/Current-and-Future-Generation/Thorium/#b</small></ref>
+Scientists are trying to get this down to 10 years (no guarantees). Even in such a case, it would probably still take decades to breed enough fuel to meet global energy demands {{light|(unless uranium/thorium mining could somehow be done at an extremely fast rate?{{rn}})}}.
-Thus we can't count on breeder reactors to solve [[climate change]] soon enough. We still have to work on other [[energy]] sources too, such as [[wind]] and [[solar]].
+Because of this, maybe we can't count on breeder reactors to solve [[climate change]] soon enough. We'll probably still need [[wind]] and [[solar]].
-==Types==
+==Risk of weapons proliferation==
-Some reactor types that might show potential:
+{{sum|Major risk in some cases|bad}}
+[[Uranium-238]] breeder reactors are '''high''' risk.
+{{minor|The uranium-238 is bred to become plutonium-239, which is considered "easy" to make nuclear bombs with.}}
+[[Thorium-232]] breeder reactors are '''low''' risk.
+{{minor|The thorium-232 is bred to become uranium-233, which is considered far more difficult for making nuclear bombs.}}
+If breeder reactors are to become a mainstream source of energy, they have to be designed extremely securely{{en}} to prevent the possibility of anyone maliciously siphoning off some of the fissionable materials. {{rn}}
+<!--
+ TALK: is it true that the nature of breeder reactors makes it harder to notice such "siphoning off"? if so, what could be done about it?
+-->
+==Nuclear waste==
+{{sum|Almost none|good}}
+Breeder reactors produce less than 1/1000th as much nuclear waste as conventional nuclear power{{x|Conventional nuclear power is wasteful because uranium occurs naturally as just 0.7% uranium-235; the rest is uranium-238 which goes to waste. Breeder reactors don't have this problem.}} (for the same amount of energy).
+==External links==
+* [https://energyeducation.ca/encyclopedia/Breeder_reactor Breeder reactor - Energy Education] - another wiki which elaborates more on the technical details
+* [http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/Current-and-Future-Generation/Fast-Neutron-Reactors/ Fast Neutron Reactors]
+* [http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/NucEne/fasbre.html Fast breeder reactors]
+====Some reactor types that might show potential====
 * [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traveling_wave_reactor Traveling wave reactor]
 * [https://www.iaea.org/topics/molten-salt-reactors Molten salt reactor] (Thorium)
@@ Line 39: / Line 55: @@
 * [https://www.gen-4.org/gif/jcms/c_42151/supercritical-water-cooled-reactor-scwr Supercritical-Water-Cooled Reactor (SCWR)]
-==External links==
+==References==
-* [https://energyeducation.ca/encyclopedia/Breeder_reactor Breeder reactor - Energy Education] - another wiki which elaborates more on the technical details
+<references />
-* http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/Current-and-Future-Generation/Fast-Neutron-Reactors/
-* [http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/NucEne/fasbre.html Fast breeder reactors]
+[[Category:Energy sources]]