Superphénix
Sign in to saveSuperphénix (; , SPX) was a nuclear power station prototype on the Rhône river at Creys-Malville in France, close to the border with Switzerland. Superphénix was a 1,242 MWe fast breeder reactor with the twin goals of reprocessing nuclear fuel from France's line of conventional nuclear reactors, while also being an economical generator of power on its own. , Superphénix remains the largest breeder reactor ever built.
Key facts
- Power station.name
- Superphénix
- Power station.name_official
- Site nucléaire de Creys-Malville
- Power station.image
- Superphénix.jpg
- Power station.image_caption
- The Superphenix power plant
- Power station.country
- France
- Power station.location
- Creys-Malville
- Power station.status
- Closed
- Power station.construction_began
- 1976
- Power station.operator
- NERSA, EDF (51%)ENEL (33%)SBK (16%)
- Power station.np_reactor_type
- FBR
- Power station.np_reactor_supplier
- Novatome
- Power station.ps_cooling_source
- Rhône River
- Power station.ps_units_manu_model
- Ansaldo
- Power station.ps_units_decommissioned
- 1 × 1,242 MW
- Power station.ps_thermal_capacity
- 3,000 MW
- Power station.ps_electrical_capacity
- 1,242
- Power station.ps_annual_generation
- 3,392 GW·h (1996)
- Power station.ps_electrical_cap_fac
- 31.2%
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
12 sectionsContents
- Design
- Background
- Earlier work and Phénix
- Superphénix
- Construction
- Protest
- Rocket attack
- Operation
- Closure
- See also
- References
- External links
Superphénix (; , SPX) was a nuclear power station prototype on the Rhône river at Creys-Malville in France, close to the border with Switzerland. Superphénix was a 1,242 MWe fast breeder reactor with the twin goals of reprocessing nuclear fuel from France's line of conventional nuclear reactors, while also being an economical generator of power on its own. , Superphénix remains the largest breeder reactor ever built.
Construction began in 1976, the reactor went critical in 1985 and was connected to the grid in 1986. The project suffered cost overruns, delays and enormous public protests. Overall, the reactor totalized a very low operation factor of 14.4%. Despite many technical issues related to being a first-of-a-kind project most of its downtime was caused by administrative procedure: the plant was technically capable of resuming operations but was forbidden to do so. Technical problems were solved over time and, by 1996, the plant had reached an availability of 95%.