Fast breeder test reactor

The present status with respect to the fast breeder test reactor operating experience and prototype fast breeder reactor design are presented below. 

The fast breeder test reactor (FBTR) is a loop type reactor located at Kalpakkam, India. The reactor has been operated for 27 600 h till now at various power levels up to 17.4 MW(t). The peak bum up of 90 000 MW d/T was achieved in the 70% PuC + 30% UC Mark-I fuel. Turbo Generator was synchronized to the grid with the nuclear steam to check its performance. Continued operation of TG is planned at high power. The post irradiation examination of the 

A reversible reactivity transient, which sets in at a specific core AT was observed during low power operation. The magnitude of the transient reduces and the AT at which the reactivity transient sets in increases with respect to increase in core flow. The reactor operation was continued above a primary flow of 450 mVh, as the phenomenon does not occur above this value. 

The core cover plate mechanism, which supports core thermocouples, got stuck at a higher position and could not be lowered. The safety implication of the above was analyzed and thresholds of core AT and core mean temperatures were lowered and reactor operation 

The effectiveness of delayed neutron detectors for detecting clad failure was tested by operating the reactor with vented fuel SA in the core. The void coefficient of reactivity at various core locations were measured using two special SA fabricated for this purpose. The void coefficient was found to be negative. 

---

UNUSUAL OCCURENCES IN FAST BREEDER TEST REACTOR... 

Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR) is a 40 MWt/ 13.2 MWe sodium cooled, mixed carbide fuelled, loop type reactor. It has two primary and secondary sodium loops and a common steam water circuit, which supplies high pressure, high temperature superheated steam to turbine generator (TG). Heat is rejected in cooling tower (Fig 1). A 100% capacity dump condenser is provided for reactor operation even when the TG is not in service. The mmn aim of the reactor is to generate experience in the design, construction and operation of sodium cooled fast reactors and to serve as an irradiation facility for the development of fuels and structural material for fast reactors. It achieved first criticality in Oct 85 with Mark I core... 

Ganguly.C. et al - Development and fabrication of 70% PuC 30% UC fuel for Fast Breeder Test Reactor in India, Nuclear Technology, Vol 72, Jan 86. 

Bhoje.S.B. et al - Commissioning of Fast Breeder Test Reactor, International Conference on fast reactors and related fuel cycles, Oct 28 - Nov 1,1991, Kyoto, Japan. 

Kapoor.R.P. et al - Operating Experience of Fast Breeder Test Reactor and its utilization as an Experimental Facility, 5th Asian symposium on Research Reactors, May 29-31, 1996, Taejon, Korea. 

The results of physics and engineering experiments in the fast breeder test reactor (FBTR) were presented as well. It was brought out that it is essential and mandatory to carryout important safety related physics and engineering tests to validate the data used in safety evaluation. The feedback in these experiments were also used to validate and redefine various mathematical models/codes for better prediction. 

Fast Breeder Test Reactor (FBTR) at Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), Kalpakkam is 40 MWt/I3.2 MWe sodium cooled, loop type plutonium rich mixed carbide fuelled reactor. It has two primary and secondary loops and a common steam water circuit with once through steam generator (SG), which supplies super heated steam to the condensing turbine. 

RAMALINGAM, P.V., et. al., Operating experience of fast breeder test reactor, Proc. 7 International Conference on Nuclear Engineering, 19-23 April 999, Tokyo, ICONE-7337 (1999). 

INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, Unusual Occurrences in Fast Breeder Test Reactor, IAEA-TECDOC-1180, Vienna (1999). 

BHOJE, S.B., et al.. Design and construction of fast breeder test reactor, paper presented in the IAEA International Symposium on Fast Breeder Reactor, Experience and Future Lyon, France, 1985. 

In 2003, a facility was commissioned at Kalpakkam to reprocess mixed carbide fuel using an advanced PUREX process. In 2010, the AEC said that used mixed carbide fuel from the fast breeder test reactor (FBTR) with a burn-up of 155 GWd t i... 

FBTR (India) Fast Breeder Test Reactor... 

The Indian fast reactor development programme is built based on the experience accumulated with the small-size [40 MW(th)/13 MW(e)] fast breeder test reactor (FBTR) located at Kalpakkam, which is operational since 1985. 

CEFR, China experimental fast reactor CRBR, clinch river breeder reactor DFR, dounrey fast reactor EBR, experimantal breeder reactor FFTF, fast flux test facility FTBR, fast breeder test reactor SEFOR, southwest experimental fast oxide... 

Fast breeder test reactors and their current status... 

---