Fast Breeder Reactors

This book is a complete update of the classic 1981 FAST BREEDER REACTORS textbook authored by Alan E. Waltar and Albert B. Reynolds, which , along with the Russian translation, served as a major reference book for fast reactors systems. Major updates include transmutation physics (a key technology to substantially ameliorate issues associated with the storage of high-level nuclear waste ), advances in fuels and materials technology (including metal fuels and cladding materials capable of high-temperature and high burnup), and new approaches to reactor safety (including passive safety technology), New chapters on gas-cooled and lead-cooled fast spectrum reactors are also included. Key international experts contributing to the text include Chaim Braun, (Stanford University) Ronald Omberg, (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Massimo Salvatores (CEA, France), Baldev Raj, (Indira Gandhi Center for Atomic Research, India) , John Sackett (Argonne National Laboratory), Kevan Weaver, (TerraPower Corporation) ,James Seinicki(Argonne National Laboratory). Russell Stachowski (General Electric), Toshikazu Takeda (University of Fukui, Japan), and Yoshitaka Chikazawa (Japan Atomic Energy Agency).

Fast Breeder Reactors: An Engineering Introduction is an introductory text to fast breeder reactors and covers topics ranging from reactor physics and design to engineering and safety considerations. Reactor fuels, coolant circuits, steam plants, and control systems are also discussed. This book is comprised of five chapters and opens with a brief summary of the history of fast reactors, with emphasis on international and the prospect of making accessible enormous reserves of energy. The next chapter deals with the physics of fast reactors and considers calculation methods, flux distribution, breeding, control rods, shielding, and reactivity coefficients. The chemistry of fast reactor fuels is also considered, along with the engineering of the core of a power-producing fast reactor and of coolant circuits and steam plants. The final chapter examines aspects of reactor safety that are peculiar to sodium-cooled oxide-fueled fast reactors and describes the inherent features of such a reactor that make for safety, followed by an analysis of risks and some of the protective systems that can be used. This monograph will be of interest to nuclear scientists, physicists, and engineers.

Fast Breeder Reactors presents the proceedings of the London Conference on Fast Breeder Reactors organized by the British Nuclear Energy Society on May 17-19, 1966. The book covers topics about the place of the fast breeder reactor in the energy programs (including fuel cycles), operating experience with fast reactors; the design of fast reactor prototypes and power reactors (including advanced concepts with coolants other than sodium); fast reactor physics; and fuel technology. The text also describes topics about sodium technology and engineering of fast reactors and provides definitions of fast reactor breeding and inventory. Civil engineers will find the book useful.