Status of fast breeder reactor development in the Federal Republic of Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands

Problems of public acceptance of nuclear power have affected the development of fast breeder reactors in the Federal Republic of Germany. Besides cooperation with UK, USA and Japan, the most outstanding event in the field of international fast breeder cooperation was a set of the agreements between Germany and France. These agreements opened the possibility of joint fast breeder development by Germany together with Belgium and the Netherlands. Most activities on the site of Compact Sodium Cooled Nuclear Reactor KNK-II were concerned with commissioning of the plant and final construction work. Criticality was achieved in Oct. 1977 and low-power tests performed. This paper includes a description of the status of construction of SNR-300 reactor and the results of research and development programmes performed. These were concerned with fuel elements development and results of irradiation experiments; development of cladding materials and core element structural materials; interaction between fuel and cladding; sodium tests; development and verification of computer codes; experiments in fast critical assemblies; fast rector safety; core disruptive accidents; development of instrumentation; thermodynamics od fuel assemblies; fluid dynamics