What is meant by breeder reactor?

breeder reactor, nuclear reactor that produces more fissionable material than it consumes to generate energy. This special type of reactor is designed to extend the nuclear fuel supply for electric power generation.

What is a breeder reactor and what benefit does it have?

Breeder reactors are designed to generate nuclear fuel at the same time as producing energy for electricity production. This is possible because a small number of isotopes will capture neutrons produced in a reactor, starting a reaction that leads to a new, heavy fissile isotope.

What are breeder reactors and thermal reactors?

Reactors with a fast neutron spectrum are called fast breeder reactors (FBR) – these typically utilize uranium-238 as fuel. Reactors with a thermal neutron spectrum are called thermal breeder reactors – these typically utilize thorium-232 as fuel.

Where are breeder reactors used?

There are four countries in the world that currently have operating fast breeder nuclear reactors: China, Japan, India and Russia. That total is down from nine countries, including the U.S., that had operating breeder reactors, some since the 1950s, according to World Nuclear Association (WNA).

How does a nuclear breeder work?

Breeder reactors are designed to fission the actinide wastes as fuel, and thus convert them to more fission products. After spent nuclear fuel is removed from a light water reactor, it undergoes a complex decay profile as each nuclide decays at a different rate.

What is the difference between thermal reactor and breeder reactor?

Nuclear breeding does not take place in thermal reactors. Nuclear breeding occurs in fast breeder reactors (FBR), where a portion of fertile material gets converted into fissile materials (and thus produce more fuel). This can reduce dependency on inadequately available U-235.

What is breeder reactor describe the construction and working of a nuclear reactor?

A breeder reactor is a nuclear fission reactor that creates more usable fuel (plutonium-239) than it consumes. Breeder reactors can utilize nearly 100% of the energy contained in uranium and thorium ores, while the reactors currently used for nuclear power generation can use at most 1%.

Why are breeder reactors not used?

Breeder reactors are costly to build and operate. Although it could be expected that once in production this cost ratio would decline, today few, if any, experts argue that breeder reactor capital costs could be less than 25 percent higher than that of similarly sized water cooled reactors.