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reactor. Since this increase is due simply to the construction of additional HWRs, the
fractional installed capacity of the HWR is increased comensurately.
In summary, using the assumptions contained in this study, the following conclusions
can be drawn about the behavior of a nuclear power system operating on the throwaway option:
(1) The effect of deploying an advanced converter in 1995, under the assumption of
350 GWe in the year 2000 and 15 GWe/yr thereafter with the high-cost U308 supply, would
be small.
(2) If the U308 supply available below $160/lb should be larger than 3 million ST,
or if the nuclear growth should be smaller than assumed above, then the effect of deploying
the advanced converter would be larger.
(3) The effect of reducing the enrichment tails composition is somewhat larger than
that of deploying an advanced converter under the assumed conditions.
(4) The dominant variable for the nuclear power system on the throwaway cycle is the U308 supply; a U308 supply either twice as large or twice as small is of greater
consequence than any of the effects discussed above.
6.2.2. Converter System with Plutonium Recycle
In order to assess the option of plutonium recycle in converters i- was assumed -..at
a reprocessing capability would be available in 1991. (This assumption does not argue that
the 'reprocessing capacity would be economically attractive or diversion-resistant, but
merely that it would be technologically feasible by this date.) In this option the classical
plutonium recycle was modified somewhat by rejecting converters with self-generated
recycle in favor of converters with complete plutonium loads. This has the advantage of
reducing the number of reactors that must be placed in the energy centers and comnensurately
increases the number of reactors that can be placed outside the centers. The individual
reactor concepts and their locations are shown in Fig. 6.1-2 (Option 2).
A comparison of the nuclear contribution of the LWR with plutonium recycle to that
of the LWR on the throwaway cycle (Fig. 6.2-13) shows that with recycle the maximum installed
nuclear capacity is increased from approximately 420 GWe to approximately 600 GWe
and the time at which the maximum occurs is increased from about year 2010 to about year
2020 (high-cost UJ08 supply). The maximum annual U308 requirement for this case is
67,000 ST/yr and the maximum annual enrichment requirement is 46 million SWU/yr. These
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