[redpoint5]

I have a vague notion of other schemes, such as pebble bed and MSR. No idea how they compete cost-wise... just talking aloud out of ignorance that it seems there ought to be a better way to design rod reactors to make better use of the fuel and to operate more safely.

My assumption was that rods were retired at 95% fissile material remaining because they can't sustain the reaction at the levels required to produce "full power". If that's the case, it seems there should be a way to move material around in such a way that a larger percentage of the material can be consumed while still safely producing full rated power output.

As an analogy, when I'm burning wet wood for a campfire, I stack a lot more wood on to better trap the heat and to dry out the wood that will burn later. It's an inferior grade of fuel due to the water content, but that is compensated by using more of it at a slower burn rate, and arranging it in a particular way...

this thread went way OT very quickly.