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Roundtable: new strategies for advanced nuclear fuel cycles (cont.)
In turn, so-called “user states” would pay for the reactors and enriched fuel, as well as for the spent-fuel reprocessing.
Unfortunately, Richter admitted, more research and development are necessary, given that it is not yet clear what is the best fast-reactor system to attract the interest of commercial energy producers. His disposition in this regard was nothing if not consistent, in that he was clearly interested in discovering and taking whatever steps would be necessary to engage U.S. energy corporations.
Former Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Srinivasan essentially narrowed the view from Richter’s global perspective and focused largely on India’s burgeoning electricity needs and its projections for nuclear-power growth; his projections included a better-than-6-percent annual growth rate for Indian electricity generation over the next 20 years. Srinivasan’s scenario featured a three-stage program: Stage II adds fast breeder reactors to an already impressive collection of heavy- and light-water reactors; Stage III adds thorium-based reactors to the mix. India has already built a pilot plant for reprocessing carbide fuels, which has already successfully reprocessed high-burnup carbide.
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