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> 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.

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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...

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.

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

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

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