The Enrico Fermi fast breeder reactor, reloaded with fresh fuel, again achieved criticality on July 18, 1970, following four years of repairs and modifications to remedy the limited fuel meltdown accident in October 1966. On October 16, 1970, the plant first attained its full licensed power level of 200MWt. The subsequent low-power and high-power nuclear test program was completed with a 5 day power demonstration run at the full licensed power level during the week of November 15, 1970.
Some 90 preloading, nuclear and plant monitoring tests covering all components and systems of the plant were prepared, conducted and evaluated. They include the performance tests of flow guards, (which were newly added to subassemblies to prevent any significant reduction of coolant flow by flat plate), of the malfunction detection analyzer (MDA), and of the delayed neutron detectors. The results of these tests were highly satisfactory.
Stable operation of the modified steam generator, the effectiveness of the. MDA for early warning of anomalous occurrences, and other results obtained should provide experience and data of great significance to the development, design, licensing and operation of future fast breeder reactor plants.
This paper summarizes the operating experience of the Fermi reactor up to 200MWt.
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