- Superphénix
Infobox NPP
Picture = Superphenix.jpg
Pic_des = A cut-away model of the Superphenix containment. From theNational Atomic Museum
Country =France
Utility =Electricité de France
Built = 1976
Start =
End =December 31 , 1998
Reactor =
S_Reactor = 1
S_Reactor_MW = 1,242
El_Prod =
for_year = 2006
El_Prod_avg = 797
Net_Prod = 3,392
WEBSITE =
as_of = July 27, 2007Superphénix (English: Superphoenix) or SPX is a
nuclear power station on theRhône River at Creys-Malville inFrance , close to the border withSwitzerland . Afast breeder reactor, it halted electricity production in1996 and was closed as a commercial plant in1997 .Construction
Design work began in
1968 , the same year as construction began for the smaller-scale LMFBRPhénix , following the abandonment of the graphite-gas designs. The fast breeder design was chosen in the face of fears of disruption to the supply of other fuels; the "plutonium economy" seemed viable if oil prices stayed high anduranium supplies dwindled. Construction was approved in1972 and lasted from1974 to1981 , but power production did not begin until1985 . Costs rose rapidly during construction. The plant was run by the consortiumNERSA , 51% owned byEDF .There was considerable popular protest during construction; a march by 60,000 protestors in July 1977 was broken up by the CRS with the death of Vital Michalon and over a hundred serious injuries.
Rocket attack
Against a background of ongoing protest and low-level sabotage, on the night of January 18, 1982 a rocket attack was launched against the unfinished plant by an "eco-pacifist group". Five rockets were launched using a
Russia n rocket launcher. The incompletecontainment building was damaged by two of the rockets, which narrowly missed the reactor's empty core.On May 8, 2003,
Chaïm Nissim , who in 1985 was elected to theGeneva cantonal government for the Swiss Green Party, admitted carrying out the attack. He claimed that the weapons were obtained from Carlos the Jackal via the Belgian terroristorganisation Cellules Communistes Combattantes (Communist Combatant Cells). [ [http://www.sortirdunucleaire.org/mai2003/letemps080503b.htm] Dead link|date=March 2008]Operation
Designed electrical power output was 1.21 GW, though year to year its availability was from zero to 33%. As time passed, problems developed from another source: the liquid
sodium cooling system suffered from corrosion and leaks. These problems were eventually fixed and in December 1996 the power reached 90% of the nominal power [ [http://sfp.in2p3.fr/Debat/debat_energie/Nucleaire/Reacteurs/superphenix.html SUPERPHENIX in figures, H. Nifenecker ISN Grenoble February 18, 1998] ] . There was understandable caution with the experimental main reactor design.In September 1998, the plant was closed. Two incidents earlier in the year had culminated in a third, which triggered an automatic shutdown. In December 1990 structural damage occurred following heavy
snow fall. Power production did not resume until the "Direction de la sûreté des installations nucléaires" was approved in 1992. [ [http://www.iaea.org/cgi-bin/db.page.pl/pris.ophis.htm?country=FR&site=CREYS-MALVILLE&units=&refno=24&opyear=1996&link=HOT Operating Experience History - SUPER*-PHENIX ] ]The plant was connected to EdF grid in December 1994 and produced 4 300 GWh of electricity, worth about a billion 1995 Frank, during the next 10 months of operation. In 1996 it produced 3 400 GWh worth about 850 million Franks. [ [http://sfp.in2p3.fr/Debat/debat_energie/Nucleaire/Reacteurs/superphenix.html SUPERPHENIX in figures, H. Nifenecker ISN Grenoble February 18, 1998] ]
During 11 years, the plant spent 63 months of normal operations, mostly at low power; 25 months of outages due to fixing technical problems of the prototype; and 66 months were spent on halt due to political and administrative issues. [ [http://sfp.in2p3.fr/Debat/debat_energie/Nucleaire/Reacteurs/superphenix.html SUPERPHENIX in figures, H. Nifenecker ISN Grenoble February 18, 1998] ]
Closure
Superphénix had been a focus point of many groups opposed to nuclear power, including the green party Les Verts, since its planning and construction. After the struggle of ecologists against Superphénix, a national network called Sortir du nucléaire was formed, bringing together hundreds of organisations: local committees, ecological associations, citizen movements and parties.
Power production was halted in December 1996 for maintenance. However, following a court case led by opponents of the reactor, on
February 28 ,1997 theConseil d'État (Supreme State Administrative Court) ruled that a 1994 decree, authorizing the restart of Superphénix, was invalid. In June 1997, one of the first actions ofLionel Jospin on becomingPrime Minister was to announce the closure of the plant "because of its excessive costs". Jospin's government included Green ministers; pro-nuclear critics have argued that Jospin's decision was motivated by political motives (i.e., to please his Green political allies) rather than rational considerations. However, the reactor did not produce electricity most of the time in its last ten years because of malfunctionshttp://www.ccomptes.fr/Cour-des-comptes/publications/rapports/rp1996/cdc63_5.htm] (in fact it was consuming substantial power to maintain sodium above melting temperature).Superphénix was the last fast breeder reactor operating in Europe for electricity production. According to a 1996 report by the French Accounting Office (Cour des Comptes), the total expenditure on the reactor to date was estimated at 60 billion
franc s (9.1 billioneuro ).The last of the 650 fuel rods were removed from the reactor on
March 18 ,2003 , and are now stored in cooling ponds.A
public inquiry was launched in April2004 to consider plans to set up a plant to incorporate the 5,500 tonnes of sodium coolant in 70,000 tonnes ofconcrete . The plan is similar to that used following the closure of theDounreay Fast Reactor in theUnited Kingdom .ee also
*
List of nuclear reactors
*Eco-terrorism References
External links
* [http://www.dissident-media.org/infonucleaire/news_super-phenix.html Superphénix News (in French)]
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