Breeding nuclear fuels with accelerators - replacement for breeder reactors

High-current, high-energy linear accelerators are potential competitors to breeder reactors and fusion devices for the production of fissile fuel. Accelerator breeder studies, conducted at Chalk River (Canada) and Brookhaven National Laboratory during the last decade, indicate that the technology is available and system's costs competitive with that of the LMFBR and Fusion-Hybrid systems. This paper adresses the technical issues to be faced in an accelerator specifically designed for commercial operation of this kind, the neutronics and engineering feasibility of target systems, and related fuel-cycle cost/benefit analysis. A nearly optimized accelerator breeder concept consisting of a 1.5 GeV, 300 mA linear accelerator, and of a H2O-cooled, U-metal target (or thorium) has been designed and costed. Accelerator efficiency, beam-to-plug, is estimated at 50% and target power generation efficiency, beam-to-thermal output, at about 600% (U-metal case). Fuel costs produced by the facility are practically entirely driven by capital investment costs. This is also true for any competing system. On the basis, the accelerator breeder is economically competitive with the LMFBR while offering real advantages in terms of safety, fuel cycle flexibility, and resource independence. (orig.)