According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, around 96% of currently operating nuclear reactors, which is roughly equivalent to 440 reactors, are water-cooled. The nuclear waste from these water-cooled reactors, i.e., the slightly used nuclear fuel (SUNF), still has 97% of its electricity potential yet to be realized for the “fast breeder reactor” design.
A “fast reactor” is a type of nuclear reactor that uses fast neutrons to sustain a chain reaction, while a “breeder reactor” is a specific design of fast reactor that produces more fissile fuel (like plutonium) than it consumes, meaning it “breeds” new fuel.
Once commissioned, India will only be the second country after Russia to have commercially operating Fast Breeder Reactors.
We all like to make use of our trash, which, if possible, is generally called “recycling.” When we discuss using our nuclear fuel after it has been through a reactor one time, there are two terms commonly used: “reprocessing” and “recycling.” When we reuse aluminum cans, we simply melt them down and form them into new sheets of aluminum, which I call “recycling.” When we try to use old cars that are trashed, we go through a process to remove gasoline, plastic, tires, rubber, wires, and anything else that is not steel before the remains of the car can be used, which I call “reprocessing.” Recycling is a direct process to reuse something, but reprocessing requires more steps to remove impurities.
Early reactor nuclear engineers knew that reclaiming the useful parts of SUNF was desirable. In fact, it was the least imposing engineering problem of the entire fuel cycle. Both recycling and reprocessing were considered, but reprocessing became the method of choice.
France reprocesses all its SUNF and has ever since its nuclear program began in the early 1960s with no harm to people. This chemical process removes the plutonium from the SUNF and combines it with uranium to create fuel that can be used once more in a reactor. This is not “recycling” because it involves many chemical steps to remove impurities. However, after one reuse, there is not enough material left to salvage, and the fuel is retired for permanent storage, but still over 80% of that spent fuel remains unused.
The United States Government encouraged private companies to reprocess US commercial SUNF, but President Carter suddenly disallowed the process in 1979. This bankrupted the existing private businesses at a great economic loss to the investors. Even though President Reagan reinstated permission to reprocess in 1982, investors no longer trusted the Government and were hesitant to invest again. Furthermore, reactor owners decided that mining, refining, and enriching uranium was a cheaper process than reprocessing. Economics doomed SUNF to be stranded on reactor sites with no other proposed solution than to “eventually” store it underground. The government attempted to “solve” the problem, but now, more than 50 years have passed with no solution.
The fiction writers of nuclear power disasters created a specter of doom, which convinced the public to revile nuclear power after the mid-1970s. Ironically, we are fortunate that our government was so inept. This SUNF is extremely valuable, and we are lucky that we still have access to it above ground.
The trick to fission is to split vast numbers of large atoms with neutrons. Nature features physics that allows more neutrons to be released after each fission, making it possible for continuous energy production called a chain reaction. Each fission releases 50,000,000 times more energy than the chemical combustion of a single atom of coal. Uncontrolled, this power creates a powerful bomb. Controlling the chain reaction, however, turned out to be easily manageable, and with the support of Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy, the “Atoms for Peace” program was born. Like all engineering issues, there is room for innovation. “Thermal neutrons” (slow-moving neutrons) have a much better chance of being captured by the right uranium isotope, causing a better chance for fission. Water, due to the hydrogen atoms, turns out to be ideal to slow down neutrons and transfer the heat created to do work (make electricity). The first reactors, therefore, were called “light water reactors” since normal water is, indeed, “light water” (no extra neutrons in the hydrogen atoms of the water).
The Navy chose this method as a power source for their aircraft carriers and submarine nuclear reactors, so it made sense to transfer their existing engineering designs to commercial reactors. The Navy’s seven-decade safety track record with nuclear-generated electricity to support national security began before the formulation of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and all of its regulatory roadblocks. Commercial nuclear power plants are utilizing the light water reactor design pioneered by the US Navy.
“Fast” indicates that neutrons do not lose all their energy to “thermal” levels. This allows isotope breeding to commence and boost the energy yield at least 30 times what light water reactors offer in the same volume of fuel. Fast reactors directly convert SUNF to energy, so it is “recycling.” There are other advantages to fast reactors. They can operate at atmospheric pressure, making them immune to pressure leaks. They can produce much more heat making them more efficient and allowing them to directly cause the production of many useful chemicals without being converted to electricity and back to heat. Fast Reactors are “intrinsically safe” in the sense that their designs allow the reactors to shut themselves down, if necessary, without human intervention. Best of all, the designs are mature, and some have already been operated for energy production. Since the material is already mined and refined, it is 100% clean. So, you may be wondering why we do not use this technology. Good thinking.
In the name of safety and security, the US Government has become the nanny of the energy production and transmission businesses in the US. However, in the 70 years of using nuclear power, there has never been even one attempt to use reactor fuel (new or slightly used) to make a bomb or a terrorism device (feared for national security) or to harm anyone in the normal commercial production of nuclear power (safety). We are suggesting that fast reactor recycling is already safe and secure.
To do that, we all need to convince the US Government that we want innovation in energy production. We prefer to have companies compete to give us the best deal for electric power. Since there is no industry with a better safety record worldwide in over 70 years of normal commercial operation of nuclear reactors, why should we not get our wish? After all, citizens run the US government’s actions. Maybe not directly, but certainly in their power to petition their elected officials and replace them if they ignore their “bosses” or, worse yet, allow industry to pay them to make beneficial business deals that are detrimental to the citizens. To prevent that from happening, citizens need to understand their predicament. Only each individual citizen can get the education they need to plot their most beneficial situation. Considering that data centers, cryptocurrency, and massive central computing are forecasting massive increases in demand for electricity, we either keep the same electricity production levels and let big data bid up the price to a dollar a kWh (they claim they can make a profit at that level) or massively increase our production to compete electricity closer to the penny per kWh retail cost. The data boys want power, and they want nuclear power. So, why not let them have it?
Existing stockpiles of SUNF contain 270 years of equivalent existing electricity demand in the US. The value of this electricity is $100 TRILLION at 10 cents per kWh. Technology exists to make it happen. Companies are already capitalized privately with existing, tested designs today. The only thing holding them back is the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and their US Government handlers.
You, the reader of this article, now know more than 99% of all US citizens about fast reactors and their promise. We must pass this along to others and establish the power the Founding Fathers vested in “we the people” to blast through the lobbyists and Members of Congress to get what will benefit citizens. Recycle now, or forever, and keep paying more and more for the basic need for electricity.
This article originally appeared at America Out Loud
The post Existing stockpiles of SUNF contain 270 years of electricity demand in the US was first published by the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), and is republished here with permission. Please support their efforts.
