Fissile nuclei (such as 233U, 235U, and 239Pu) respond well to delayed neutrons and are thus important to keep a critical reactor stable; this limits the amount of minor actinides that can be destroyed in a critical reactor. As a consequence, it is important that the chosen matrix allows the reactor to keep the ratio of fissile to non-fissile nuclei high, as this enables it to destroy the long-lived actinides safely. In contrast, the power output of a sub-critical reactor is limited by the intensity of the driving particle accelerator, and thus it need not contain any uranium or plutonium at all. In such a system, it may be preferable to have an inert matrix that does not produce additional long-lived isotopes.