Integral Fast Reactor - Hitachi GE Energy

Nuclear power polarizes opinion.  Some argue it is inherently dangerous and point at the difficulty of safely disposing of the bi-products.  Others think it is an essential fuel source for the future and its dangers are now well managed and in any case fewer than the indirect effects of traditional fossil fuels.
One exciting emerging technology is a type of nuclear reactor called an Integral Fast Reactor (IFR).  IFRs use the dangerous bi-products of other nuclear power stations as a fuel, releasing the stored energy missed by the first power station and rendering the waste considerably easier to safely dispose of.  Furthermore, it is impossible for IFRs to go into meltdown.
 
US company Hitachi GE Energy has recently been granted a patent for an IFR reaction process and is now looking to put it to widespread use.  In late November 2011 it made an offer to the UK Government to build a reactor to use up the waste of an existing nuclear power station within 5 years, at no cost if it does not work.  Once the existing waste is used up the IFR would keep recycling the fuel, extracting ever more of its energy.



Here’s a breakdown of ARC’s benefits:

• Burns more of its own raw radioactive fuel
• Burns other reactors’ spent fuel
• Shuts down automatically if there’s a problem
• Is built in small modules than can be expanded
• The waste it does generate needs to be stored for just a few hundred years.

this is hugh for the environment , a reactor that eats nuclear waste - looks like a good solution for energy supply and handling of nuclear waste

Nuclear Reactor that eats nuclear waste