Session 1 Sodium cooled fast reactor operational experience

Session 1 Sodium cooled fast reactor operational experience 

The papers presented a comprehensive overview of the accumulated experience with the operation of sodium cooled fast reactors. The worldwide 40+ years of fast reactor development represent a total of 300 years of operation. Based on this figure, it was concluded that the sodium cooled fast reactor technology has reached a mature stage. The advantages of this type of reactor were pointed out by the various presenters  

The technical difficulties encountered during the operation of fast reactors, and their resolution, were presented. The status of fast reactor development in the different countries is currently in a wide range  

Several prototype reactor projects are going ahead, e g. in China, India, Japan, the Russian Federation (these reactors are likely to be commissioned by 2010). However, large scale commercial reactor construction is not expected before 2020. There is a major interest for all countries to preserve the operational experience for both the ongoing and future long term projects. 

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