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The world energy problem has spared few nations from its effects. The U.S. energy strategy is directed toward making best use of all of the available resources. Nuclear power has a key role in this strategy and will be required to provide an ever larger share of total electric demand. Advanced reactors, or breeders, will be required to assure long-term energy supply. Consistent with this requirement, development of the Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor (LMFBR) has been given priority in the AEC's broad reactor development program. Several other breeder concepts are under study by AEC's Division of Reactor Research and Development including the Gas-Cooled Fast Breeder Reactor (GCFR), and the Molten Salt Breeder Reactor (MSBR). Each of these concepts offers distinct advantages and attractiveness for future use in meeting energy requirements. The GCFR concept will draw upon the base technology program providing input for the LMFBR, including fuel development and physics. The helium coolant system technology of the High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor (HTGR) and fuel technology of the LMFBR have been combined to produce the conceptual designs for the GCFR. AEC is expanding GCFR core development and fuel programs and initiating new activities in areas specific for the concept, such as safety. From a technical viewpoint, the MSBR is a unique and distinctive concept as compared to solid fueled breeder reactors. The fluid-fueled thermal spectrum MSBR system operating with the Thorium-UO-233 fuel cycle integrated on-site with the reprocessing plant would avoid the solid fueled reactors problems associated with fuel fabrication, handling, and shipping. The solid fuel problem of achieving high fuel burnup to enhance fuel cycle economics does not apply to the MSBR. The most recent milestone reached in our breeder program is initiation of work on the Clinch River Breeder Reactor, which has evolved as a partnership among the AEC, Commonwealth Edison and the Tennessee Valley Authority. It will be the first breeder demonstration plant, have a capacity of 380 MWe, and represents financial contributions in excess of $240 million from about 350 investor and publicly-owned electric utilities. Development of a breeder reactor is a large scale undertaking involving the entire nuclear community – the AEC, national laboratories, engineering centers, universities and industrial and utility organizations. It also involves a broad range of technologies. It involves disciplines such as safety, physics, fuels and materials, instrumentation and control, fuel cycle, coolant technology, components and systems, and overall plant. Carrying forward coherent and well structured R&D programs involving this spectrum of disciplines requires carefully organized effort among the participating organizations. Fast breeder development has been underway for over a quarter of a century. Progress since the late 1960's has been such that continuing economic and enviromental impact analyses support the earliest commercial introduction of the breeder system consistent with technological and industrial capability. The importance of a strong research and development effort to establish the basic technology is indispensable. It provides the foundation of the program; one which leads toward the stage when the utilities will have sufficient confidence in the breeder system so that it will be chosen for general use. |
