High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! A breeder reactor is a nuclear reactor that generates new fissile material at a greater rate than it consumes such material. These reactors were initially (1940s and 1960s) considered appealing due to their superior fuel economy; a normal reactor is able to consume less than 1% of the natural uranium that begins the fuel cycle, whereas a breeder can utilize a much greater percentage of the initial fissionable material, and with re-processing, can use almost all of the initial fissionable material. Breeders can be designed to utilize thorium, which is more abundant than uranium. Currently, there is renewed interest in breeders because they would consume less natural uranium (less than 3% compared to conventional light-water reactors), and generate less waste, for equal amounts of energy, by converting non-fissile isotopes of uranium into nuclear fuel. Production of fissile material in a reactor occurs by neutron irradiation of fertile material, particularly uranium-238 and thorium-232. In a breeder reactor, these materials are deliberately provided, either in the fuel or in a breeder blanket surrounding the core, or most commonly in both.