Experimental Breeder Reactor EBR

The first experimental breeder reactor (EBR-1), which was the first reactor to generate electricity on a practical basis, went into operation in 1951 at the National Reactor Testing Station in Idaho. After the first reactor was damaged by a power excursion, EBR-11 was put into operation in 1961 (57). As of early 1995 it continued to operate very well. 

The Experimental Breeder Reactor EBR-1 was the first power reactor and the first fast neutron reactor. It was put in service in 1951 on the site of Idaho in the United-States and it became the world s first electricity-generating nuclear power plant when it produced sufficient electricity to illuminate four 200-watt light bulbs. 

J. C. HESSON, M. J. FELDMAN, and L. BURRIS, Description and Proposed Operation of the Fuel Cycle Facility for the Second Experimental Breeder Reactor (EBR-II), ANL-660S, Argonne National Lab. (1963). 

The Experimental Breeder Reactor (EBR-11) development activities in the United States in the 1980s included studies of natural circulation in this machine (GUlette et al., 1980 Planchon et al., 1985 Singer et al., 1980). Ha et al. (2010) validated the MARS models and code with EBR-11 test data. The IAEA (2013) conducted a blind benchmark exercise using data from the PHENIX sodium-cooled reactor. 

Nuclear power is a relatively new source of energy. The first electrical power production from a nuclear reactor occurred on 20 December, 1951, in Idaho at the Experimental Breeder Reactor Number 1 (EBR-1), and since that time nuclear science and technology have had a tremendous impact on the 20th century (Ewing... 

The first-cycle raffinate wastes produced at the ICPP are the acid aluminum waste from various test reactor fuels, fluoride-bearing waste from zirconium-matrix fuel, a small amount of stainless steel sulfate waste from fuel from developmental reactors such as the Organic Moderated Reactor Experiment (OMRE), acid stainless steel nitrate waste from the electrolytic dissolution of Experimental Breeder Reactor-II (EBR-II) reactor fuel, and an acid waste from the recovery of uranium... 

Sodium, used as a heat transfer fluid, can most effectively remove heat from a fast breeder reactor. Development work on sodium handling at Argonne National Laboratory in 1945 led to the first turbine-electric power from nuclear energy in 1951. This paper presents the engineering mock-up of the experimental breeder reactor II and illustrates associated pumps, valves, and instrumentation. The past year s successful operation of the EBR-II mock-up has demonstrated that sodium technology is adequate for the job. Properly used, sodium may be the key to the problem of really using the elusive atom. 

The Experimental Breeder Reactor-II (EBR-II) was designed as a 62.5 MWt, metal fueled, pool reactor with a conventional 19 MWe power plant. The productive life of the EBR-II began with first operations in 1964. Demonstration of the fast reactor fuel cycle, serving as an irradiation facility, demonstration of fast reactor passive safety and lastly, was well on its way to close the fast breeder fuel cycle for the second time when the Integral Fast Reactor program was prematurely ended in October 1994 with the shutdown of the EBR-II. 

Koch, L. J., Experimental Breeder Reactor-II (EBR-II) An Integrated Experimental Fast Reactor Power Station, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois. 

It is also possible to supplement the RVACS heat removal capacity using a direct reactor auxiliary cooling system (DRAGS) based on natural circulation of an intermediate coolant from bayonet heat exchangers in the reactor vessel to air-cooled heat exchangers. This type of DRAGS system was used in the Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II) with sodium-potasium as the intermediate coolant. There are a variety of potential intermediate coolants, several of which have been used extensively in industry for similar heat transfer applications. 

Experimental Breeder Reactor-1 (EBR-I), the FR that succeeded in generating electricity for the first time in the world. Then, four light bulbs were lit (Argonne National Laboratory 2002)... 

The concept of a liquid metal-cooled reactor dates back to the genesis of nuclear energy. The first nuclear reactor to generate electricity was the liquid sodium-potassium-cooled fast reactor Experimental Breeder Reactor-1 (EBR-1) [5]. EBR-Fs successor, the sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) EBR-11 operated successfully for over 30 years, producing 20 MW of electricity via a sodium-steam power cycle [6]. 

Idaho National Laboratory, EBR-I Fact Sheet, 08-GA50050-05-R3 R2-12,2006. https //factsheets. inl.gov/Fact%20Sheets/experimental-breeder-reactor-l.pdf. 

XXII-16] The Experimental Breeder Reactor-II Inherent Safety Demonstration, EBR-II Division, Argonne National Laboratory, April 1986, Nuclear Engineering and Design, Special Issue, ed. Fistedis, S.H., Vol. 101, pp. 1-91 (1987). 

A landmark series of experiments was successfully completed in ANL-Idaho s Experimental Breeder Reactor-II (EBR-II) to demonstrate the capability of a metal-fueled reactor to accommodate severe accidents without scram with very benign consequences, i.e., no failure of fuel assemblies or core structures. In earlier designs, such event sequences were considered as potential, extremely low-probability initiating events leading to core disruption. Similar tests were performed in the Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF) with an oxide fuel configuration. 

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