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| 1 |
ID:
089163
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| Publication |
2009.
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| Summary/Abstract |
France is the only country in the world ever to operate a commercial scale (1,200 MWe) sodium cooled, plutonium fuelled fast breeder reactor, the Superphenix at Creys-Malville. However, the French fast breeder reactor program turned out to be too costly and could never compete with light water reactor technology. Numerous technical problems, low uranium prices and massive opposition exacerbated the poor economic and operational performance of the fast breeder reactor. Superphenix only operated about half of the time that it was officially connected to the grid and was shut down in 1998 with a lifetime load factor of less than 7%. The Superphenix predecessor, Phenix at Marcoule, which began operating in 1973 and will be shut down later in 2009, has experienced numerous sodium leaks and fires and a series of potentially serious reactivity incidents. The lifetime load factor of approximately 45% is one of the lowest in the world.
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| 2 |
ID:
108042
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| Publication |
2011.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Three factors - meeting climate change objectives, dwindling conventional fossil fuel reserves and rapidly growing energy demand from emerging economies - require the rapid transformation of the global energy industry. Within this context, nuclear power is being promoted in new countries and regions of the world. However, even prior to the Japanese earthquake and tsunami and subsequent nuclear crisis at Fukushima, the global expansion of nuclear power was occurring in a handful of countries only and globally reactor numbers were falling. While it is too early to make accurate forecasts of the long-term impact of Fukushima, it is clear that most countries are reviewing from a safety and/or policy perspective their existing and future programmes. The impact that these will have on future reactor orders will be dependent not only on the engineering and operational recommendations, but also on the economic and financial viability of the non-fossil fuel alternatives.
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