4 ms·
The most famous of these is the Chernobyl reactor design, the RBMK. It could be run on natural uranium rather than enriched uranium and would self enrich the ur
by AnotherGoodName 5y ago
The most famous of these is the Chernobyl reactor design, the RBMK. It could be run on natural uranium rather than enriched uranium and would self enrich the uranium via neutron bombardment inside the reactor.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RBMK https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RBMK
Of course there are some flaws in a reactor that breeds it's own enriched uranium. There's states that the neutron flux is too low so the enriched elements aren't burnt off quickly as intended. This leads to a state where the whole reactor is a highly enriched weapons grade bomb.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- pfdietz 5y agoA reactor that runs on natural uranium is still fissioning 235U (and some of the 239Pu that has been bred, but that's true of reactors that run on low enriched U as well.)
- cbmuser 5y agoThat‘s wrong. The RBMK is not a fast reactor, it’s a pressure-channel boiling water reactor. Fast reactors are/were for example the: - French Superphenix - Russian BN-600/800 - German SNR-300 - Japanese Monji - American EBR II The BN reactors are still operational.