According to a CERN report (CERN/LHC/96-11 EET) preparations for building
a demonstration hybrid system in Europe are advancing. The title of that
report (by C. Rubbia et) is ENTATIVE PROGRAM TOWARD A FULL SCALE ENERGY
AMPLIFIER. The name "energy amplifier" refers to an accelerator-reactor
system producing more energy than is needed to run the accelerator.
Their Th232-U233 breeding unit is going to produce heat at the rate of
1500 MW. This is equivalent to 27,000 barrels of oil per day. Use of that
heat to produce electricity is not anticipated because there is no doubt
that this can be accomplished with the existing technology. The purpose of
building a prototype is to collect data for future industrial applications.
They say that the existing superconducting accelerator of the LEP e+ e-
collider, which is scheduled to terminate its operation by year 2000,
can be modified to produce 30 milliamps of protons at 1 GeV. The heat
generating unit, a "swimming pool" about 6 meters in diameter and 30
meters tall, is filled with molten Pb. The lead is used as a spallation
target (where neutrons are produced) and as a coolant. The weight of that
unit is about 1500 tons. It is interesting that the cooling is passive;
it is based on natural convection rather than on pumps. Here is what they
write about this. "Safety is ensured by deterministic laws, rather than
probabilistic arguments."