Rapsodie

Not to be confused with Rhapsody (disambiguation).

Rapsodie was an experimental nuclear reactor built in Cadarache in France.

It was France's first fast reactor, and first achieved criticality in 1967. Rapsodie was a sodium-cooled fast neutron loop-type reactor with a thermal output of 40MW and no electrical generation facilities, and closed in 1983.[1]

Rapsodie was operated in conditions considered representative of a commercial plant in terms of temperatures (inlet 400C, outlet 550C) and neutron flux(3.2e15n/cm/s), and served to prove many elements used in later, larger, breeder reactors.

Rapsodie operated for 15 years, and suffered two leaks, a sodium micro leak in 1978 that was so small it was never found, and a nitrogen gas leak in 1982. [2]

Rapsodie is currently in Stage 2 decommissioning.

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.iaea.org/OurWork/ST/NE/NEFW/CEG/documents/ws102003_michaille1-e.pdf
  2. ↑ http://www.tesionline.com/__PDF/23539/23539p.pdf

Coordinates: 43°40′36″N 5°46′22″E / 43.6766°N 5.7727°E / 43.6766; 5.7727

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/16/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.