Synergy between Fast Reactors and Thermal Breeders for Safe, Clean, and Sustainable Nuclear Power

This paper proposes a new approach to nuclear power to achieve a sustainable nuclear future in which the transuranic elements or TRUs (neptunium, plutonium and americium) of the present nuclear waste are burned in safe fast reactors such as lead-cooled fast systems. These breed at the same time U-233 for the use in thermal breeder reactors that are based on the thorium cycle. Since the latter require a much smaller fissile mass than fast reactors, one fast reactor can generate during its lifetime a considerable number of critical masses needed to start up new thermal breeders. With regard to the use of U-233/thorium, this approach is similar to the one pursued by India, but it is different insofar as existing and continuously generated nuclear TRU waste is additionally burned.JRC.F.4-Nuclear design safet