Development work and foreign work
Manufacture of plutonium fuel for nuclear reactors

Prospective studies and reflections abound, and future reactor concepts are judged against a few simple criteria:

• sustainability ;

• economy ;

• safety ;

• environment and waste ;

• proliferation.

In terms of these criteria, fast breeder reactors have clear advantages:

• preserving uranium resources ;

• operation at high temperatures, so high yields ;

• relatively low production of minor actinides and, above all, the ability to burn them.

Research orientations simultaneously involve maximizing the above benefits, seeking minimum costs and increasing public acceptance.

The...