Sodium tests on prototypes of the mechanisms and the central channel of the PEC reactor block

The paper deals with the experimental work performed by the Fast Breeder Reactor Department of ENEA at the Energy Research Centre of Casaccia, on prototypes of internal tank mechanisms and the central channel of the PEC reactor. Full-scale, out-of-pile tests were performed on two facilities - the mechanisms test plant and the experimental sodium loop of the channel. The tested mechanism prototypes of the PEC reactor are: the control-rod drive mechanism, the core blocking device and the load/unload machine. The thermal shock prototype of the central channel was also tested. The paper describes the tests and the principal results obtained. (author)