Heavy-Metal Nuclear Power
By Eric Loewen
Could an unconventional coolant enable reactors to burn radioactive waste and produce both electric power and hydrogen?
This Article From Issue
November-December 2004
Volume 92, Number 6
Page 522
DOI: 10.1511/2004.50.522
Thirty years have passed since the last nuclear reactor was ordered in the United States—yet the future of nuclear power remains a national and international public-policy issue.
Figure 1. Spent nuclear fuel poses a growing storage-and-disposal challenge in the United States. Some engineers wonder whether there might be a safe way to burn fuel from the country's 103 nuclear power plants in a different type of reactor, thereby reducing the amount requiring long-term disposal. The author discusses one type of reactor, cooled by heavy metal, that might burn portions of the spent fuel while generating electric power. Lead's high boiling point would allow a high-temperature "fast reactor" to operate without fear of core meltdown. Such a reactor could be hot enough to drive production of hydrogen fuel as well. In this 1998 photograph, Virginia Power employees are shown moving a storage container filled with spent fuel from a fuel building to a storage area on the grounds of the North Anna Power Station.
American Scientist Comments and Discussion
To discuss our articles or comment on them, please share them and tag American Scientist on social media platforms. Here are links to our profiles on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
If we re-share your post, we will moderate comments/discussion following our comments policy.