Publication Laka-library:
Technical options for the Advanced Liquid Metal Reactor

AuthorUS Office Technology Assessm.
6-01-2-60-29.pdf
DateMay 1994
Classification 6.01.2.60/29 (FAST BREEDERS - GENERAL)
Front

From the publication:

Technical Options for the Advanced Liquid
             Metal Reactor

                May 1994

           OTA-BP-ENV-126
         NTIS order #PB94-173994
        GPO stock #052-003-01370-3
Recommended Citation: U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, Technical
Options for the Advanced Liquid Metal Reactor---Background Paper, OTA-BP-ENV-126
(Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, May 1994).
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                                                                             Foreword
1
     n this post-Cold War era, scientists and engineers have focused
     much research on the development of technologies to address the
     legacy of the nuclear arms race. One of the more intractable prob-
     lems currently is how to dispose of excess plutonium from retired
nuclear weapons and how to manage radioactive plutonium waste. The
Office of Technology Assessment covered this issue in its 1993 assess-
ment Dismantling the Bomb and Managing the Nuclear Materials. The
House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Energy
and Power, asked OTA to expand the technical analysis of the advanced
liquid metal reactor (ALMR).
   This background paper discusses the history and status of the ALMR
research program. It presents applications of this technology to the plu-
tonium disposition problem and the possible advantages and disadvan-
tages of its future development and deployment. It also discusses related
issues such as waste management and concerns about proliferation of
plutonium material.
   With regard to its application to the plutonium disposition problem,
ALMR technology will require a decade or more of research and testing
before the performance of a complete system could be ensured. Even
though complete elimination of the plutonium isotope within the reactor
is theoretically achievable with this technology, other aspects of full-
scale deployment must be considered in s