To breed or not to breed

Abstract

Errors made in the present generation of nuclear reactors are reinforcing the case against the next generation, the breeder reactor, with its more-advanced and more-expensive technology. Breeder reactors could provide the long-term energy supplies needed to replace fossil fuels when they are depleted. The vision of a breeder economy in which reactors would generate power and plutonium in ever-larger amounts resulted in nine experimental reactors and plans for a demonstration plant in Oak Ridge. Today, after 11 years, the dream is stalled, while Russia, Britain, and France are already operating demonstration plants and France has moved to the commercial stage. A combination of concerns about the environment and proliferation halted the US program even though Congress has continued funding. President Reagan has ordered the plant completed, but environmentalists will continue to fight licensing, and the justifications in terms of power demand and uranium supplies are less valid than they were 20 years ago. The author reviews how breeder reactors work and the special safety and environmental problems they entail. 7 figures. (DCK)