[morning_gelato]

> the economics for fast reactors have never worked (not even in Russia or China)

Russia currently has two sodium-cooled fast reactors that are producing power, the BN-600 and BN-800. They also have another sodium reactor under development, the BN-1200. BREST-OD-300, a lead-cooled fast reactor, is under construction as well.

[apendleton]

But those don't have to be economical purely on power generation, right, because they also produce Pu-239? Presumably fast breeder reactors would be useful to the Russian state even if they didn't produce electricity at all...

[morning_gelato]

There's no evidence that they are being used to breed plutonium. In fact the BN-800 burns a mixture of uranium and plutonium to reduce their weapons stockpile.

[baybal2]

They have RBMKs which will produce 10 times that, and more cheaply.

[petre]

They went bankrupt with their arsenal once, so I'd argue it would be more useful to their rivals.