Superphenix, the inspirer

The construction of Superphenix lasted 10 years between 1976 and 1986 the date to the coupling to the grid. Between its first divergence in 1985 and its decommissioning in 1996, Superphenix cumulated 4.5 operating years made up of test periods, operations and maintenance. Superphenix was a tripartite project between France (EDF), Italy (ENEL) and Germany (SBK) within the NERSA entity. Since 1999 Superphenix has been in the deconstruction stage, the removal of the 6000 m³ of sodium from the reactor vessel and the secondary cooling system was a delicate operation performed from 2010 to 2014, the removal of the closure head happened in 2019, and now the reactor vessel is being dismantled. The task is huge as the vessel has a diameter of 24 metres which is 6 times larger than that of a PWR. The vessel dismantling will be followed by the deconstruction of the buildings, the dismantling of steam generators and eventually soil remediation by 2030. (A.C.)