Safety implications from 20 years of operating experience at EBR-II

EBR-II recently passed a major milestone in its operating history, 20 years of operation on August 13, 1984. The plant has gone through three major program phases during this time and is now entering a fourth. Those are: (1) demonstration of the feasibility of a complete LMFBR power plant, including on-site reprocessing of metal fuel, (2) irradiation testing of fuels and materials to support core and fuel design for CRBR and FFTF, (3) operational-safety testing to establish and demonstrate the inherent safety of LMFBRs and now, (4) the integration of this technology into demonstration of the integral fast reactor (IFR) concept. As EBR-II has progressed through these phases, much has been learned that is relevant to fast-reactor safety