Lead-cooled fast reactor
fast-neutron nuclear reactor cooled by molten lead
The lead-cooled fast reactor is a nuclear reactor design that uses molten lead or lead-bismuth eutectic as its coolant. These materials can be used as the primary coolant because they have low neutron absorption and relatively low melting points. Neutrons are slowed less by interaction with these heavy nuclei (thus not being neutron moderators) so these reactors operate with fast neutrons.
The concept is generally similar to sodium-cooled fast reactors, and most liquid-metal fast reactors have used sodium instead of lead. Few lead-cooled reactors have been constructed, except for the Soviet submarine K-27 and the seven Soviet Alfa-class submarines (though these were beryllium-moderated intermediate energy reactors rather than fast reactors). Some proposed new nuclear reactor designs are lead-cooled.
Fuel designs being explored for this reactor scheme include fertile uranium as a metal, metal oxide or metal nitride.
The lead-cooled reactor design has been proposed as a generation IV reactor. Plans for future implementation of this type of reactor include modular arrangements rated at 300 to 400 MWe, and a large monolithic plant rated at 1,200 MWe.
Operation
Lead-cooled fast reactors operate with fast neutrons and molten lead or lead-bismuth eutectic coolant.
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This entry incorporates text from “Lead-cooled fast reactor” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.