Plutonium powered nuclear fission reactor11/20/2023 ![]() ![]() "The development of the first commercial fast reactors in the U.S. Fast reactors were generally thought to be more expensive than traditional light-water reactors, said Gehin, making it an unattractive area for investment. ![]() ![]() Coal, and later natural gas, remained abundant and cheap. Then, nuclear energy as a whole started falling out of favor, largely because of the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania in 1979, Gehin said. "Fast neutron reactors can more effectively convert uranium-238, which is predominantly what's in spent fuel, to plutonium, so you can fission it," Gehin said. "You can get a large fraction of that energy if you were to recycle the fuel through fast reactors."įast reactors don't slow down the neutrons that are released in the fission reaction, and faster neutrons beget more efficient fission reactions, Gehin told CNBC. "Fundamentally, in light-water reactors, out of the uranium we dig out of the ground, we use a half a percent of the energy that's in the uranium that's dug out of the ground," Gehin told CNBC in a phone interview. There are about 80,000 metric tonnes of used fuel from light-water nuclear reactors in the United States and the existing nuclear fleet produces approximately an additional 2,000 tons of used fuel each year, Gehin told CNBC.īut after a light-water reactor has run its reactor powered by uranium-235, there is still tremendous amount of energy potential still available in what is left. The nuclear fission reaction leaves waste, which is radioactive and has to be maintained carefully. Personal Loans for 670 Credit Score or Lower Personal Loans for 580 Credit Score or Lower Best Debt Consolidation Loans for Bad Credit ![]()
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