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fast reactor

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fast reactor

Nuclear reactor that makes use of fast neutrons to bring about fission. Unlike other reactors used by the nuclear-power industry, it has little or no moderator, to slow down neutrons. The reactor core is surrounded by a ‘blanket’ of uranium carbide. During operation, some of this uranium is converted into plutonium, which can be extracted and later used as fuel.

Fast breeder reactors can extract about 60 times the amount of energy from uranium that thermal reactors do. In the 1950s, when uranium stocks were thought to be dwindling, the fast breeder was considered to be the reactor of the future. Now, however, when new uranium reserves have been found and because of various technical difficulties in their construction, development of the fast breeder has slowed in most parts of the world.



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? Mentioned in ? References in periodicals archive
 
No engineer would propose a fast reactor to make tritium from lithium which is a thermal neutron absorber.
While the administration would continue R&D to support today's commercial nuclear plants, it would end development of the next generation of reactors, including the "inherently safe" Integral Fast Reactor project (SN: 1/26/85, p.
They named it the integral fast reactor (IFR) to denote that it would contain all the components necessary for power production, fuel reprocessing and waste treatment in one facility.
 
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