Energy 3.1 WORLD
In the nuclear sector of the future, what is the main advantage of a fast neutron reactor (FNR) compared to current pressurized water reactors?
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THE CORRECT ANSWER: The ability to burn uranium 238 and recycle the waste
While current reactors mainly consume uranium 235 (very rare), fast reactors can transform fertile and abundant uranium 238 into fissile plutonium. This process, called “regeneration”, allows much more energy to be extracted from the same quantity of ore.In addition, fast neutrons make it possible to “transmute” certain long-lived radioactive waste (minor actinides) by breaking them, which considerably reduces the duration of toxicity of the final residues. On a geopolitical level, this technology offers almost total energy independence for centuries, by exploiting stocks of depleted uranium already extracted from the ground. This is a major step forward for a circular nuclear fuel economy, transforming what we consider today to be bulky waste into a sustainable and strategic energy resource for the future.