This idea has also been around in theory since the early 1950s; it gained renewed currency in 1993, when Nobel Prizewinning physicist Carlo Rubbia proposed an "energy amplifier," an accelerator-driven
subcritical reactor (ADSR) that coupled a particle accelerator to a reactor core containing thorium, depleted uranium, or other mildly radioactive materials.
The neutronic characteristics of the
subcritical reactor have been extensively studied theoretically [4, 5] and experimentally [6-8].
The idea for this accelerator-driven
subcritical reactor (ADSR), as it is known, has been sitting on nuclear physicists' drawing-boards for the past 20 years.
Technically, Myrrha is a multifunctional lead-bismuth-cooled
subcritical reactor with an accelerator-driven system for the incineration of radioactive waste.
The accelerator-driven
subcritical reactor (ADSR) employs an external neutron source and operates at a steady power level.
At this time the
subcritical reactor continues to emit fission neutrons.
The accelerator driven subcritical reactor system (ADS) is a new kind of nuclear reactor which has been regarded as the most promising approach to burn minor actinide waste products with inherent safety features.
CiADS engineering uses technical route with superconducting linear accelerator, high power dispersive target, and subcritical reactor. According to the construction and operation experience of the international analogies, CiADS adopts the phased construction mode.
DWe et al., "Conceptual Design of Subcritical Reactor for China Initiative Accelerator Driven System," Atomic Energy Science and Technology, vol.