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Scaling Fast-Breeder Energy Independence

The main bottleneck to fast-breeder energy independence is not the reactor itself, but the fuel cycle, specifically the out-of-pile fuel cycle, which includes cooling, reprocessing, and refabricating spent fuel. The current reprocessing capacity lags behind spent fuel arisings, and the chemistry of recycling MOX fuel poses significant challenges. This bottleneck limits the scalability of fast-breeder reactors.

Science, Physics, Classical Mechanics