Breeder reactors are fast reactors. “Fast” refers to neutron energy that “Breeds” new fuel.
Yes, the west has done research and maybe a couple of demo reactors of insignificant power. But only the Soviets, and then the Russians have an industrial sized “fast”, or “breeder” reactor.
As to the waste of “breeders” being manageable, that remains to be seen, doesn’t it?
>...Yes, the west has done research and maybe a couple of demo reactors of insignificant power.
Granted that the power level for EBR II was insignificant compared to a commercial reactor, but it did run successfully for about 30 years and generated about 2 billion kilowatts of power.
https://www.ne.anl.gov/About/reactors/frt.shtml
>...As to the waste of “breeders” being manageable, that remains to be seen, doesn’t it?
Within about 4 centuries the small volume of waste generated by a breeder reactor should be less radioactive than the uranium ore that it came from.
I am not very familiar with the Russian breeder design in particular, but generally that is wrong fro 4th generation designs:
"...Fast reactors can "burn" long lasting nuclear transuranic waste (TRU) waste components (actinides: reactor-grade plutonium and minor actinides), turning liabilities into assets. Another major waste component, fission products (FP), would stabilize at a lower level of radioactivity than the original natural uranium ore it was attained from in two to four centuries, rather than tens of thousands of years"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integral_fast_reactor
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_IV_reactor
While there are issues with nuclear power, the worry people have about nuclear waste is greatly overblown to say the least. The amounts being generated are manageable and in a relatively short amount of time we can use most of this "waste" to generate electricity.