What can fast breeders do for Ontario

Fast reactors have the potential of significantly reducing Ontario's demand for natural resources while meeting virtually any requirements for nuclear power this province may have. The breeding efficiency of the fast reactors does not affect the overall uranium consumption of the system to any significant extent. It is, however, an important economic factor in a breeder/burner system. To minimize the resource consumption, the fast reactors should be introduced in Ontario at the onset of the next century. The 'breeder-burner' mix of reactors can effectively reduce the fissile inventory of the whole power system (including the inventory in irradiated fuel storage bays). For the nuclear capacity growth scenarios thought to be applicable in Ontario, the fast reactor systems have about the same or lower requirements for natural uranium as the best (self-sustaining thorium) CANDU cycles. Compared to all other advanced CANDU cycles, the fast reactors yield a substantial resource saving. (auth)