Uranium-238 as a source for electronuclear power production

A possibility of using the U238 isotope to produce power through fission induced by fast neutrons from an external neutron source in the subcritical assembly is considered. Physically, development of this technology is dictated by two basic problems of nuclear power production, namely, nuclear safety and transmutation of radioactive waste. The former problem is fully solved by using subcriticality, the latter is partly solved by increasing the service life of the assembly by tens-fold (as compared with reactors). The U238 fission threshold (some 1 MeV) makes it necessary to work with the neutron energies corresponding to fission (without a moderator). The external neutron source will be based on a high-current accelerator. The necessary physical investigations for development of this power production scheme are listed