breeder reactor
"A breeder reactor is like combining a oil refinery with a petroleum powered power plant... The power plant produces electricity which powers the refinery and maybe even the oil drilling rig as well... but you are not "creating" fuel... you are still just using the fuel you feed the reaction and getting out less than you put in."
"What is a breeder reactor? This simplistic description comes from a publication that David obtained from the Department of Energy (DOE): "Imagine you have a car and begin a long drive. When you start, you have half a tank of gas. When you return home, instead of being nearly empty, your gas tank is full. A breeder reactor is like this magic car. A breeder reactor not only generates electricity, but it also produces new fuel." "
"In a so-called 'breeder reactor' plutonium is used instead of the rare fissile uranium. The situation in a breeder reactor is like a culture of yeast: to produce more plutonium, one needs an amount to start with, as well as a large quantity of non-fissile uranium, which is easy to get. Together they breed new plutonium, like straw into gold. "
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