Uranium-233 - Nuclear Fuel

Nuclear Fuel

Uranium-233 has been used as a fuel in several different reactor types, and is proposed as a fuel for several new designs (see Thorium fuel cycle), all of which breed it from thorium. Uranium-233 can be bred in either fast reactors or thermal reactors, unlike the uranium-238-based fuel cycles which require the superior neutron economy of a fast reactor in order to breed plutonium, that is, to produce more fissile material than is consumed.

The long-term strategy of the nuclear power program of India, which has substantial thorium reserves, is to move to a nuclear program breeding uranium-233 from thorium feedstock.

Read more about this topic:  Uranium-233

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