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Nuclear reactor
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====Advanced reactors==== More than a dozen advanced reactor designs are in various stages of development.<ref name="UIC">{{cite web |title=Advanced Nuclear Power Reactors |publisher=[[World Nuclear Association]] |url=http://world-nuclear.org/info/inf08.html |access-date=29 January 2010 |archive-date=6 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100206181830/http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf08.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Some are evolutionary from the [[pressurized water reactor|PWR]], [[boiling water reactor|BWR]] and [[Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor|PHWR]] designs above, and some are more radical departures. The former include the [[advanced boiling water reactor]] (ABWR), two of which are now operating with others under construction, and the planned [[passively safe]] [[Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor]] (ESBWR) and [[AP1000]] units (see [[Nuclear Power 2010 Program]]). * The [[integral fast reactor]] (IFR) was built, tested and evaluated during the 1980s and then retired under the Clinton administration in the 1990s due to nuclear non-proliferation policies of the administration. Recycling spent fuel is the core of its design and it therefore produces only a fraction of the waste of current reactors.<ref name="pbs">{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/reaction/interviews/till.html |title=Nuclear Reaction: Why Do Americans Fear Nuclear Power? |access-date=9 November 2006 |publisher=Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) |author=Till, Charles |archive-date=17 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180417094454/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/reaction/interviews/till.html |url-status=live }}</ref> * The [[pebble-bed reactor]], a [[high-temperature gas-cooled reactor]] (HTGCR), is designed so high temperatures reduce power output by [[Doppler broadening]] of the fuel's neutron cross-section. It uses ceramic fuels so its safe operating temperatures exceed the power-reduction temperature range. Most designs are cooled by inert helium. Helium is not subject to steam explosions, resists neutron absorption leading to radioactivity, and does not dissolve contaminants that can become radioactive. Typical designs have more layers (up to 7) of passive containment than light water reactors (usually 3). A unique feature that may aid safety is that the fuel balls actually form the core's mechanism, and are replaced one by one as they age. The design of the fuel makes fuel reprocessing expensive. * The [[small, sealed, transportable, autonomous reactor]] (SSTAR) is being primarily researched and developed in the US, intended as a fast breeder reactor that is passively safe and could be remotely shut down in case the suspicion arises that it is being tampered with. * The [[Clean and Environmentally Safe Advanced Reactor]] (CAESAR) is a nuclear reactor concept that uses steam as a moderator β this design is in development. * The [[reduced moderation water reactor]] builds upon the [[Advanced boiling water reactor]] ABWR) that is presently in use. It is not a complete fast reactor instead using mostly [[epithermal neutron]]s, which are between thermal and fast neutrons in speed. * The [[hydrogen-moderated self-regulating nuclear power module]] (HPM) is a reactor design emanating from the [[Los Alamos National Laboratory]] that uses [[uranium hydride]] as fuel. * [[Subcritical reactor]]s are designed to be safer and more stable, but pose a number of engineering and economic difficulties. One example is the [[energy amplifier]]. * Thorium-based reactors β It is possible to convert Thorium-232 into U-233 in reactors specially designed for the purpose. In this way, thorium, which is four times more abundant than uranium, can be used to breed U-233 nuclear fuel.<ref name=NASA>{{cite journal|last1=Juhasz|first1=Albert J.|last2=Rarick|first2=Richard A.|last3=Rangarajan|first3=Rajmohan|title=High Efficiency Nuclear Power Plants Using Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor Technology|url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20090038711.pdf|website=NASA|date=October 2009|access-date=27 October 2014|archive-date=28 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210428205700/https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20090038711.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> U-233 is also believed to have favourable nuclear properties as compared to traditionally used U-235, including better neutron economy and lower production of long lived transuranic waste. ** [[Advanced heavy-water reactor]] (AHWR) β A proposed heavy water moderated nuclear power reactor that will be the next generation design of the PHWR type. Under development in the [[Bhabha Atomic Research Centre]] (BARC), India. ** [[KAMINI]] β A unique reactor using Uranium-233 isotope for fuel. Built in India by [[Bhabha Atomic Research Centre|BARC]] and Indira Gandhi Center for Atomic Research ([[IGCAR]]). ** India is also planning to build fast breeder reactors using the thorium β Uranium-233 fuel cycle. The FBTR (Fast Breeder Test Reactor) in operation at [[Kalpakkam]] (India) uses Plutonium as a fuel and liquid sodium as a coolant. ** China, which has control of the [[Cerro Impacto]] deposit, has a reactor and hopes to replace [[coal energy]] with nuclear energy.<ref name=sch>{{cite web|url=https://supchina.com/2019/01/14/venezuela-china-explained-2/|title=The Venezuela-China relationship, explained: Belt and Road {{!}} Part 2 of 4|date=14 January 2019|website=SupChina|language=en-US|access-date=24 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190624005848/https://supchina.com/2019/01/14/venezuela-china-explained-2/|archive-date=24 June 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref> Rolls-Royce aims to sell nuclear reactors for the production of [[synfuel]] for aircraft.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2019-12-06/rolls-royce-pitches-nuclear-reactors-as-key-to-clean-jet-fuel |title=Rolls-Royce Touts Nuclear Reactors as Key to Clean Jet Fuel |website=[[Bloomberg News]] |access-date=19 December 2019 |archive-date=19 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191219210954/https://www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2019-12-06/rolls-royce-pitches-nuclear-reactors-as-key-to-clean-jet-fuel |url-status=dead }}</ref>
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