Download or read book Proliferation Resistance for Fast Reactors and Related Fuel Cycles written by and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The prospects for a dramatic growth in nuclear power may depend to a significant degree on the effectiveness of, and the resources devoted to, plans to develop and implement technologies and approaches that strengthen proliferation resistance and nuclear materials accountability. The challenges for fast reactors and related fuel cycles are especially critical. They are being explored in the Generation IV Tnternational Forum (GIF) and the Tnternational Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA's) International Project on Innovative Nuclear Reactors and Fuel Cycles (INPRO) initiative, as well as by many states that are looking to these systems for the efficient lise of uranium resources and long-term energy security. How do any proliferation risks they may pose compare to other reactors, both existing and under development, and their fuel cycles? Can they be designed with intrinsic (technological) features to make these systems more proliferation resistant? What roles can extrinsic (institutional) features play in proliferation resistance? What are the anticipated safeguards requirements, and will new technologies and approaches need to be developed? How can safeguards be facilitated by the design process? These and other questions require a rethinking of proliferation resistance and the prospects for new technologies and other intrinsic and extrinsic features being developed that are responsive to specific issues for fast reactors and related fuel cycles and to the broader threat environment in which these systems will have to operate. There are no technologies that can wholly eliminate the risk of proliferation by a determined state, but technology and design can playa role in reducing state threats and perhaps in eliminating non-state threats. There will be a significant role for extrinsic factors, especially the various measures - from safeguards and physical protection to export controls - embodied in the international nuclear nonproliferation regime. This paper will offer an assessment of the issues surrounding, and the prospects for, efforts to develop proliferation resistance for fast reactors and related fuel cycles in the context of a nuclear renaissance. The focus of the analysis is on fast reactors.