美国能源部的阿贡国家实验室已经设计出一种本身可以保证安全的新型核反应堆。这种新型反应堆的燃料棒用铀、钚和锆的合金制成。由于金属燃料棒在突然升温时会受热膨胀,从而增大了棒中铀原子之间的距离,这样可以有助于防止链锁反应。大多数陶瓷氧化物燃料棒膨胀不够大,不能达到上述效果。一座名叫整体快速反应堆(Inegral Fast Rractor)的新 The US Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory has designed a new type of nuclear reactor that can guarantee its own safety. The fuel rod of this new reactor is made of an alloy of uranium, thorium and zirconium. Due to the thermal expansion of the metal fuel rods upon sudden temperature rise, the distance between the uranium atoms in the rods is increased, which can help prevent the chain lock reaction. Most ceramic oxide fuel rods do not expand enough to achieve the above effect. A new name called Inegral Fast Ractor