Fast Flux Test Facility

Fast Flux Test Facility

The Fast Flux Test Facility is a 400 MW nuclear test reactor owned by the U.S. Department of Energy.It is situated in the "400 Area" of the Hanford Site, which is located in the state of Washington.

History

The construction of the FFTF was completed in 1978, and the first reaction took place in 1980. From April 1982 to April 1992 it operated as a national research facility to test various aspects of commercial reactor design and operation, especially relating to breeder reactors. The FFTF is not a breeder reactor itself, but rather a sodium-cooled Fast neutron reactor, as the name suggests. It is stated on the site dedicated to the FFTF, that it tested "advanced nuclear fuels, materials, , nuclear power plant operations and maintenance protocols, and reactor safety designs."By 1993, the number of uses to which the reactor could be put was diminishing, so the decision was taken in December of that year to deactivate it. Over the next three years, the active parts of the facility were gradually halted, fuel rods removed and stored in above-ground dry storage vessels.However, in January 1997, the DOE ordered that the reactor be maintained in a standby condition, pending a decision as to whether to incorporate it into the US Government's tritium production program, for both medical and fusion research.Since then, due to legal wrangling, decommissioning has been stopped and restarted at intervals. In December 2001, the deactivation was continued, after the DOE found that it was not needed for tritium production. Work was halted in 2002 when court action was begun. As of May 2003, deactivation has continued, and it is currently in a state of "cold standby".

In May 2005 the core support basket was drilled to drain the remaining sodium coolant, which effectively made the reactor unusable. However, a technical study is being pursued with regard to repairing the reactor. As the coolant was drained, the system was backfilled with high purity argon gas to prevent corrosion. The support basket is an unpressurized area, and the reactor core has not yet been breached (as of June 2006).

The reason for renewed interest in the FFTF is that the global atmosphere with regard to nuclear energy has changed due to current oil prices, and the US is pursuing nuclear power once again. To build a similar facility would cost an estimated $2-5 billion.

In April, 2006, the FFTF was honored by the American Nuclear Society as a "National Nuclear Historic Landmark". Achievements cited include:

*Radiation exposure to operators was 1/100th of commercial power reactors.
*Established a world record for fuel performance.
*Produced extremely high quality rare radioisotopes for medicine and industry.
*Conducted the first passive safety testing.
*Demonstrated commercial viability of breeder reactor components, materials and fuels.
*Provided fundamental experimental data for fusion programs.
*Advanced the fuels and materials development for space nuclear power.
*Demonstrated miniaturized reactor test techniques.
*Demonstrated the feasibility of transmuting radioactive Technetium 99 into a non-radioactive element using a reactor. Technetium 99 is one of the most troublesome long-lived components of the nuclear waste stream. Processing out this isotope and destroying it, permanently reduces the risks associated with long term storage.

References

* John Abbotts, "The long, slow death of the fast flux reactor," "Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists", September/October 2004.

External links

*cite news
first =
last =
author = Annette Cary
url = http://www.hanfordnews.com/news/2006/story/7638573p-7550214c.html
title = FFTF gets historic landmark designation
publisher = Tri-City Herald
date = 2006-04-18
accessdate = 2006-05-31

*cite news
first =
last =
author = Annette Cary
url = http://www.tri-cityherald.com/tch/local/story/7878041p-7771676c.html
title = Group says DOE should consider restarting FFTF
publisher = Tri-City Herald
date = 2006-06-20
accessdate = 2006-06-27

*cite news
first =
last =
author = The Associated Press
url = http://www.tri-cityherald.com/tch/local/state/story/6444491p-6324093c.html
title = Core drilling kills last hope to revive Hanford research reactor
publisher = Tri-City Herald
date = 2005-05-20
accessdate = 2006-06-27

*cite web
url = http://www.hanford.gov/rl/?page=304&parent=0
title = DOE Richland Operations Office Fast Flux Test Facility
accessdate = 2006-05-31

*cite web
url = http://ludb.clui.org/ex/i/WA3269
title = The Center for Land Use Interpretation
accessdate = 2006-05-31

*cite web
year = 1999
url = http://www.cbvcp.com/nmrc/fftf.html
title = The Fast Flux Test Facility
accessdate = 2006-05-31


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Fast Flux Test Facility — f1 Fast Flux Test Facility Luftaufnahme der Fast Flux Test Facility Lage …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Fast breeder reactor — The fast breeder or fast breeder reactor (FBR) is a fast neutron reactor designed to breed fuel by producing more fissile material than it consumes. The FBR is one possible type of breeder reactor. The reactors are used in nuclear power plants to …   Wikipedia

  • Flux — This article is about the concept of flux in science and mathematics. For other uses of the word, see Flux (disambiguation). In the various subfields of physics, there exist two common usages of the term flux, both with rigorous mathematical… …   Wikipedia

  • Fast neutron reactor — [ Shevchenko BN350 nuclear fast reactor and desalination plant situated on the shore of the Caspian Sea. The plant generates 135 MWe and provides steam for an associated desalination plant. View of the interior of the reactor hall.] A fast… …   Wikipedia

  • FFTF — Fast Flux Test Facility …   Acronyms

  • FFTF — Fast Flux Test Facility …   Acronyms von A bis Z

  • FFTF — Fast Flux Test Facility (Nuclear Reactor) Contributor: CASI …   NASA Acronyms

  • FFTF — f1 Fast Flux Test Facility Luftaufnahme der Fast Flux Test Facility Lage …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • List of nuclear reactors — Map of all coordinates from Google Map of all coordinates from Bing Export all coordinates as KML …   Wikipedia

  • Hanford Engineer Works — Karte der einzelnen Bereiche auf der Hanford Site Straßenschild der Hanford Site Hanford Site ist der Name eines US amerikanischen Nuklearkomplexes am Columbia R …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”