A reactor that both produces and consumes fissionable fuel, especially one that creates more fuel than it consumes. The new fissionable material is created by a process known as breeding, in which neutrons from fission are captured in fertile materials.
A nuclear reactor that produces somewhat more fissile material than it consumes. The fissile material is produced both in the reactor's core and when neutrons are captured in fertile material placed around the core (blanket). This process is known as breeding. breeder reactors have not yet reached commercialization, although active research and development programs are being pursued by a number of countries.
A nuclear reactor that produces its own fuel.
A reactor that is designed to produce more fissile material than it consumes; also sometimes called "fast reactor" since most breeder reactors use fast neutrons for sustaining the nuclear chain reaction.
A nuclear reactor that makes more fuel than it uses. It is designed so that one of the fission products of the U-235 used in fission is plutonium-239 (Pu-239). Pu-239 is also a fissionable isotope.
a nuclear reactor in which fissionable fuel is produced while the reactor runs
A nuclear reactor that produces fuel by bombarding isotopes of uranium and thorium with high-energy neutrons that convert inert atoms to fissionable ones.
A reactor that is designed to produce more fissile material than it consumes. Most breeder reactors use fast neutrons for sustaining the nuclear chain reaction, and are therefore called "fast breeders." A fast reactor that does not produce more fissile materials than it consumes is called a "fast neutron reactor."
a nuclear reactor in which non-fissile material such as uranium-238 is converted to fissile material by exposure to neutron radiation. In this way, fuel is "bred". A "fast breeder reactor" is fueled by plutonium in a reaction using "fast" neutrons, i.e. not moderated by water or graphite as in other reactors.
A nuclear reactor that produces more fissile material than it consumes while generating power.
A nuclear reactor that manufactures more fissionable isotopes than it consumes. Breeder reactors use the widely available, nonfissionable uranium isotope U-238, together with small amounts of fissionable U-235, to produce a fissionable isotope of plutonium, Pu-239.
a nuclear reactor in which a fissile fuel is produced from a non-fissile fuel by absorption of a fast neutron.
A nuclear reactor in which fertile nuclei are transformed into fissile nuclei.
A reactor which produces more fissile material than it consumes, i.e., has a conversion ratio greater than unity.
A special design of nuclear reactor that generates more usable fuel than it consumes.
A nuclear reactor that produces more fuel than it consumes. The breeder, invented in the United States, is used as a power source in several European countries.
A nuclear reactor that produces more fissionable nuclear fuel than it consumes.
Usually a reactor that creates more fissionable fuel than it consumes. In some usages, a reactor that produces the same kind of fissionable fuel that it consumes, regardless of the amount. The additional fissionable material is created when neutrons are absorbed in fertile materials. The process in both usages is known as breeding.
see Fast Breeder Reactor and Fast Neutron Reactor.
A breeder reactor is a nuclear reactor that breeds fuel. A Breeder consumes fissile and fertile material at the same time as it creates new fissile material. Production of fissile material in a reactor occurs by neutron irradiation of fertile material, particularly Uranium-238 and Thorium-232.