Use of a small nuclear power station for experimental purposes and for training of personnel

The CIRENE facility is a small-scale nuclear power plant built in Italy's Latina Province, roughly 70 kilometers south of Rome. Conceived of, planned and constructed as a prototype for a national network of pressure-tube reactors designed to use natural uranium as a fuel, heavy water as a moderating agent and light water in changing phase as a coolant, the plant is now earmarked for experimental and training activities, with the change having been made as the result of decisions taken towards the end of the 1970's, concerning Italy's national energy policy. The initial period of the plant's operation is meant to confirm the validity of project methods and codes, as well as construction technologies, and to evaluate the qualification of the industrial firms and organizations which have contributed to its construction and have been assigned the task of implementing the National Energy Plan. The paper goes on to examine studies and experimental tests planned for execution beginning in 1990. These efforts pertain both to the electro-nuclear sector (light-water reactors) and to the conventional area, both energy-related and otherwise. The facility will also be used for the training of personnel, particularly under unusual situations, when self-confidence is not easy to obtain in training courses that merely simulate the real-life difficulties found in an actual plant. In conclusion, this analysis has verified that concrete possibilities exist for the use of the CIRENE plant for experimental purposes; moreover, the results turn out to be more reliable, given that they have been obtained on a complete electro-nuclear power plant. (author)