Fertile material

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Fertile material is a term used to describe nuclides which generally themselves do not undergo induced fission (fissionable by thermal neutrons) but from which fissile material is generated by neutron absorption and subsequent nuclei conversions. Fertile materials that occur naturally which can be converted into a fissile material by irradiation in a reactor include: thorium-232 which can be converted into fissionable uranium-233, uranium-234 which is converted into uranium-235 and uranium-238 which can be converted into fissionable plutonium-239. Artificial isotopes formed in the reactor which can be converted into fissile material include plutonium-238 which converts into plutonium-239 and plutonium-240 which converts into plutonium-241.

A Fast breeder reactor, a reactor with little or no neutron moderator and hence utilising fast neutrons, can be configured to produce more fissile material than it consumes, using fertile material in a blanket around the core, or contained in special fuel rods. Because fast neutrons are more efficient at causing fission plutonium-238, plutonium-240 and plutonium-241 do not accumulate in spent fast reactor fuel as easily as they do in thermal reactor fuel.

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