A Symbiotic Water Breeder Reactor System

Water breeder reactors based on thermal water reactors have the advantages of a well-proven technology, a wide operational experience, and an acceptable safety status, the latter from using water as a coolant and having a negative void coefficient. Water breeder reactors are now in operation for the ²³²Th-²³³U cycle and are being designed for the ²³⁸U-Pu cycle. This paper proposes a water breeder system in which two reactors operate in symbiosis, one using ²³⁸U^-233U as fuel and producing plutonium, and the other using ²³²Th-Pu as fuel and producing ²³³U. Thus, each reactor feeds the other. From the breeding point of view, the combined system has an advantage over the separate ²³⁸U-Pu and ²³³Th-²³³U cycles.