Super Phenix 1 operating experience

SUPER PHENIX 1 OPERATING EXPERIENCE 2.4.1. Design features 

The Creys-I ville plant which is derived from Phenix is of the pool type. Primary sodium coolant is entirely enclosed in the main stainless steel vessel which contains the core, and in which are installed four primary pumps and 8 intermediate heat exchangers. 

The reactor core is made up of 364 fissile subassemblies, in the form of uranium - 15% plutonium mixed oxide pellets stacked in 271 stainless steel cladding pins, with upper and 

The main vessel is closed above the free level of sodium and argon cover gas by the slab which contains in its central section two eccentric rotating plugs and the core cover plug which supports the control rod drive mechanisms and the core instrumentation. It is surrounded by the safety vessel, welded to the slab, which is itself topped by a metallic dome. This dome can resist a pressure of 3 bar at a temperature of 180 C. The safety vessel and the dome make up the primary boundary, and the reactor building in reinforced concrete constitutes the secondary boundary. 

Thermal power extracted from the core by primary sodium is transferred by the 8 intermediate heat exchangers to 4 secondary loops which in turn supply the steam generators, housed in four buildings around the outside of the reactor building. The steam produced spins two turbogenerator sets of620 MWe each, at 3000 rpm. 

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The comprehensive operational experience with LMFRs BN-350, Phenix, PFR, BN-600, Super Phenix and Monju has shown that, if plant components have been designed and manufactured without errors and representative specimens or models have been tested prior to installation, reliable operation can be ensured during the whole operational life. 

Excluding military and space reactors, approximately 20 sodium-cooled fast reactors have been built in a variety of sizes and configurations. These vary from small test reactors to the French Super-Phenix plant, which had an output of 1240 MW(e). In the United States, several fast reactors were built. These included the EBR-II and the Fast-Flux Test Facility (FFTF)—a 400-MW(t) reactor. The Clinch River Breeder Reactor Plant (CRBRP), a commercial demonstration reactor, was designed and partly built before being cancelled. These machines provide a large experience base in refueling operations (Romrell et al., 1989 Althaus and Brahy, 1987). 

The experience acquired in the operation of sodium circuits having dimensions similar to those found on the Super-Phenix reactor constitutes a fundamental source of information concerning several points ... 

Reactor safety experience has been good and sodium-cooled fast reactors have continued to give particularly low radiation doses to operating personnel and low releases of radioactive material to the environment, even in the cases of the sodium fires mentioned above. Safety has been examined closely by the licensing authorities in some countries, in all cases with satisfactory results. Super Phenix was subjected to a major public safety review, which made a positive recommendation. PFR was licensed to modem safety standards applicable to commercial thermal reactor plants. The EFR design has been reviewed and shown to meet safety standards comparable with those of future PWRs. 

Chapter 2 details operating experience from the world s prototype and demonstration fast reactors, BN-350 and BN-600 in the former Soviet Union, Phenix and Super Phenix in France, and PFR in the United Kingdom. Smaller test reactors such as FBTR, JOYO, BOR-60, EBR-II, FFTF and Rapsodie are not covered. Chapter 3 describes pre-operational testing of SNR-300 and MONJU. Between them these two chapters give a complete account of the decade s technical progress on fast reactors of greater than 250 MW(e) capacity. 

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