Quote:
Originally Posted by SeeGeeWhy
My limited understanding is that the Uranium fuelled, water cooled reactors produce much more enriched weapons grade plutonium. This was a key consideration at the time this technology was being developed (i.e. WWII era) and implemented.
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IN general it's a different technology to produce power than it is to produce plutonium.
To use uranium based power fuel to produce weapons grade plutonium you also need to use a weapons grade plutonium producing reactor which is a different beast. The reason is that in power reactors there is a build up of Pu-240. For a weapon you need something like 10 kg of pure Pu-239.
Now that isn't to say that a power reactor doesn't create Pu-239 as it does. However, to produce enough of it you need to be operating for 30 years with numerous fuel changes AND you have to reprocess the hot fuel (i.e. you can't let it cool for years so you can then more easily handle it). Simply put, if a rogue nation wants to make a nuclear weapon they are better off just building a plutonium producing reactor rather than trying to use a power plant as some sort of cover.
When cold the fuel can be reprocessed into further power fuel rods (not weapons) but I believe only one country currently does this (France). Westinghouse and Areva have a desire to do the reprocessing in the States but only have plant designs at this point. THey have no approval to go ahead (if you knew the logistics in shipping nuclear waste you'd know why this is a difficult thing to get approved, not including the general design and process approvals).