The truth about Finland's Olkiluoto 3 nuclear plant: Finland plans to produce nuclear weapons?
(media.communities.win)
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It's not practical.
Olkiluoto 3 is an EPR. Production of weapons plutonium requires a short soak time of only a few weeks. A pressurized reactor isn't suited to such short fuel burn, since it has to be stopped and depressurized to swap fuel bundles. There's no capability to continuously feed and remove fuel pellets in FIFO order (like the Hanford reactors), or remove individual bundles while running (like an RBMK or CANDU).
Yes, and it's weapons grade bullshit.
The EPR design is ill suited to plutonium production. As a pressurized design, it has to be stopped, depressurized, and opened in order to remove the fuel bundles. But producing plutonium only needs the fuel to burn for maybe 6 weeks. Longer than that and you start accumulating more isotopes you don't want.
This is why PWRs have NEVER been used (emphasis on NEVER) for enrichment by anyone. They're the least suited to it because they have to be off to be refueled.
Same with fukushima. Japan wanted nuclear plants that can produce nuclear weapons material.
Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant is a light water reactor. It is unsuitable as a breeder reactor.
If the Japanese government wanted plutonium, then that isn't the way to get it.
As long as we're on the subject, is it true that thorium reactors work even better--but nobody uses them because you can't make weapons with it?