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Research continues, but the powers that be can decide that research isn't needed any longer. An example is the Integral Fast Reactor that was shut down in 1996, when the Clinton Administration and a Democratic majority in both Houses defunded research into a plant that had been in development for 10 years (with only a handful of years left anyway), would be able to reprocess it's spent fuel (greatly minimizing the actual waste material generated), and was proved to be immune to meltdown due to systems failures (like those that afflicted Three Mile Island #2 and Chernobyl #4).
To truly use nuclear power as a transition from fossil fuels to fully renewable power, we need better education of the populous and the policy makers, and more privately funded research into developing the better reactor designs that can be achieved.
If you're interested in the current state of the world's nuclear power industry, you might want to look at the World Nuclear Industry Status Report. Be warned, the full text is 200 pages.
I've heard that the uranium and plutonium reactors are used because: #1 its infrastructure is already in place and #2 the leftovers can be easily enriched to bomb fuel.
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[–] [deleted] 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
[–] KyJoCaThe2nd 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
Research continues, but the powers that be can decide that research isn't needed any longer. An example is the Integral Fast Reactor that was shut down in 1996, when the Clinton Administration and a Democratic majority in both Houses defunded research into a plant that had been in development for 10 years (with only a handful of years left anyway), would be able to reprocess it's spent fuel (greatly minimizing the actual waste material generated), and was proved to be immune to meltdown due to systems failures (like those that afflicted Three Mile Island #2 and Chernobyl #4).
To truly use nuclear power as a transition from fossil fuels to fully renewable power, we need better education of the populous and the policy makers, and more privately funded research into developing the better reactor designs that can be achieved.
If you're interested in the current state of the world's nuclear power industry, you might want to look at the World Nuclear Industry Status Report. Be warned, the full text is 200 pages.
[–] 01011011101101 ago
I've heard that the uranium and plutonium reactors are used because: #1 its infrastructure is already in place and #2 the leftovers can be easily enriched to bomb fuel.