What is the main advantage of the fast reactor?
Pros. Fast reactors get more neutrons out of their primary fuel than thermal reactors, so many can be used to breed new fuel, vastly enhancing the sustainability of nuclear power.
What is Dounreay power station?
Dounreay was the UK site for the development of fast reactor research from 1955 to 1994. Its Dounreay Fast Reactor (DFR) was the first fast-breeder reactor in the world to produce electricity for public consumption in 1962.
Do Fast reactors have moderators?
In contrast to most normal nuclear reactors, however, a fast reactor uses a coolant that is not an efficient moderator, such as liquid sodium, so its neutrons remain high-energy.
Is Dounreay safe?
Radioactive contamination that leaked for more than two decades from the Dounreay nuclear plant on the north coast of Scotland will never be completely cleaned up, a Scottish government agency has admitted. The most radioactive of the particles are regarded by experts as potentially lethal if ingested.
What was the power rating of the Dounreay Fast Reactor?
1 The Dounreay Fast Reactor (DFR) The Dounreay Fast Reactor (DFR) was an experimental nuclear reactor developed in the 1950s at Dounreay in Caithness, Scotland. The reactor had a power rating of 60MW (thermal) and was designed as a fast breeder, which means it used an inner reactor core operating at
What was the purpose of the Dounreay nuclear power plant?
Dounreay Nuclear Power Development Establishment was formed in 1955 primarily to pursue the UK Government policy of developing civil fast breeder reactor (FBR) technology. The site was operated by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA).
What are the environmental issues at Dounreay power plant?
Apart from decommissioning the reactors, reprocessing plant, and associated facilities, there were five main environmental issues to be dealt with: A 65-metre (213 ft) deep shaft used for intermediate level nuclear waste disposal was contaminating groundwater, and would be threatened by coastal erosion in about 300 years time.
Who is responsible for the decommissioning of Dounreay?
A new company called Dounreay Site Restoration (DSRL) was formed as a subsidiary of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) to handle the decommissioning process. By May 2008, decommissioning cost estimates had been revised.
