Development of the Demonstration FBRF and its Commercialization

Development of the FBRF has been progressing steadily in Japan towards its commercialization by 2030. The experimental FBRF, Joyo, has operated successfully for more than 14 years. Construction of the prototype FBRF, Monju, was completed in April 1992, and pre-operational tests are under way. The design study of the demonstration FBRF is progressing, and its construction is expected to start in the later 1990s. The utilities discussed on the reactor type in 1990 and concluded that the preliminary conceptual design study of Dfb was to be made for confirming the technical feasibility of the top entry loop type FBRF, and the future prospective of FBRF commercialization was to be studied with employment of various innovative technologies. The conceptual design study of Dfb consists of the general plant design of the main sodium systems with major structural and safety analyses, and confirmation tests which consist of the natural circulation test, the gas entrainment test and the sloshing test with multiple surfaces. The study of the future prospective of FBRF commercialization is to evaluate development of the commercial FBRF by comprehensively investigating objectives and specific goals for commercialization including employment of innovative technologies. Research and Development works on the key technologies for the FBRF commercialization are being conducted in the field of safety, seismic, structure, thermal hydraulics, core and components. In this paper, the present status of these design activities and related R and D for Dfb in Japan will be mainly discussed