Generation IV reactors may offer the possibility to recycle nuclear waste, hence increasing fuel resources by a factor of 100, reducing the residual waste storage time to less than 1000 years and increasing the capacity of the geological storage by a factor of 6.
Lead cooled fast reactors in particular may be designed with inherent passive safety mechanisms, reducing the probability for core melt and mitigating the consequences of a core melt should it occur.
In the present seminar, the design principles of passively safe lead cooled fast reactors are presented. A survey of the European lead cooled fast reactor programme is provided, including the proposal for building a test and training reactor in Sweden (ELECTRA).
