Status and program of development of the fast breeder reactor system in the U.S

The U.S. Energy Research and Development Administration's highest priority breeder concept is the Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor (LMFBR). Its objective is the development of a broad technological and engineering base with extensive utility and industrial involvement which will establish a timely capability for a competitive and commercial breeder industry. In addition to technological development, an integral part of the LMFBR program is the transfer of LMFBR technology to the nuclear industry and the parallel development of utility capability. An important indicator of the effectiveness of this program is the successful construction and operation of a number of LMFBR experimental and test reactors and associated non-nuclear test facilities such as those located at Santa Susana, California, the Argonne (III). National Laboratory and the Hanford Engineering Development Laboratory at Richland, Washington. A principal element of the U.S. fast breeder reactor program is the Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF). The largest test reactor facility in the world, the FFTF will focus on the testing of fuels and material. The FFTF, being built at the Hanford Engineering Development Laboratory, is scheduled for completion in the late 1970's. The next step toward timely commercial breeder capability is to implement a program for a large-scale demonstration of this concept. A 380 megawatt electrical demonstration plant - designated the Clinch River Breeder Reactor Plant (CRBRP) - will be constructed and operated near Oak Ridge, Tennessee, under a cooperative arrangement of industrial contractors, utilities, and the Government. The completion date is 1983. The estimated cost of the CRBRP project is 1.95 billion dollars. This includes the cost of design, construction, related research and development, and five years of operation - the full timespan from the project's beginning in 1972 through completion. The Nation's principal electric utilities have strongly endorsed the Administration's selection of the fast breeder reactor as the highest priority nuclear energy development program. This endorsement is evidenced by pledges from some 740 private, public, cooperative, and municipal electric systems of more than 257 million dollars toward the cost of the demonstration plant. In addition, the Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA) and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) announced in September 1975 that they would jointly sponsor design studies for a prototype LMFBR plant, which would be three to four times larger than the planned 350-400 megawatt electrical Clinch River plant. Three teams of Reactor vendors and architect-engineer firms are already at work on alternative designs, with completion of these 30 month studies expected in 1978. The concepts developed in the design studies will build upon the accumulated U.S. and foreign LMFBR engineering and operating experience. In addition English