Lightbridge has also developed another fuel design that utilizes plutonium-zirconium metal fuel rods in the seed region and thorium-uranium oxide fuel rods in the blanket region. In some earlier technical publications, this fuel design was referred to as Radkowsky Thorium Plutonium Incinerator (RTPI). This fuel design has the same proliferation resistance and waste reduction benefits as the primary fuel design and offers the most efficient way to burn surplus plutonium stockpiles in existing light water reactors. In 2005, Westinghouse Electric Company conducted an independent technical review of this design for plutonium fuel application and issued a favorable assessment. Presently, Lightbridge is not actively pursuing the fuel design for plutonium fuel application but the development effort in this area could be restarted should there be sufficient interest in plutonium disposition in existing light water reactors from governments or utilities that own such plutonium stockpiles.
