Plutonium, useless poison or inexhaustible energy source

The risks associated with separated plutonium can be mastered reliably, and therefore, plutonium has strategic potential to become an inexhaustible energy source. However, short and long term interests are in conflict. As the supply of uranium has exceeded requirements and the investment costs of a fast reactor have remained high, FBR is not competitive against LWR. There is no immediate incentive nor need to recycle plutonium. In the long term, on the other hand, it is only through large-scale use of plutonium and deployment of fast breeder reactors that fission can make a strategic contribution towards meeting the energy needs of the industrialized world. It is therefore necessary that large-scale studies on the utilization of plutonium continue inducing its incineration in light water reactors