China Experimental Fast Reactor

China Experimental Fast Reactor
CEFR under construction on June 4, 2004
Map
Official name
  • 中国实验快堆
CountryPeople's Republic of China
Coordinates39°44′27″N 116°01′49″E / 39.74083°N 116.03028°E / 39.74083; 116.03028
StatusOperational
Commission dateOctober 31, 2012.
OwnerChina Institute of Atomic Energy
Nuclear power station
Reactor typeFast-neutron reactor
Cooling source
Power generation
Units operational65 MW (thermal), 20 MW (electric)
Nameplate capacity
  • 20 MW
[edit on Wikidata]

The China Experimental Fast Reactor (CEFR) is China's first fast nuclear reactor, and is located outside Beijing at the China Institute of Atomic Energy. It aims to provide China with fast-reactor design, construction, and operational experience, and will be a key facility for testing and researching components and materials to be used in subsequent fast reactors. The reactor achieved first criticality on July 21, 2010[1] and started generating power a year later on July 21, 2011.[2] In October 2012 Xinhua announced that the CEFR has passed official checks.[3] The CEFR was brought to full power at 5.00pm on 15 December 2014 and operated at this level continuously for three full days.[4]

CEFR is a 65 MW thermal, 20 MW electric, sodium-cooled, pool-type reactor with a 30-year design lifetime and a target burnup of 100 MWd/kg.[5] The CEFR was built by Russia's OKBM Afrikantov in collaboration with OKB Gidropress, NIKIET and Kurchatov Institute.[6]

The CEFR project was approved by the Chinese State Council in 1992, with final approval given in 1995. The China Experimental Fast Reactor is one of the major energy projects under 863 Program, the national high-tech research and development program. The China Institute of Atomic Energy (CIAE) is the organizer of the project's construction.[4]

Japan's Atomic Energy Agency (AEA) reported that the reactor stopped generating electricity in October 2011 following an accident; however, the director of the China Institute of Atomic Energy (CIAE) denied that any accident had occurred.[7]

  1. ^ "Criticality for China's first fast reactor". Nuclear Engineering International. July 2010. Archived from the original on 2011-06-13. Retrieved 2010-07-23.
  2. ^ "China's experimental fast neutron reactor begins generating power". xinhuanet. July 2011. Archived from the original on November 7, 2012. Retrieved 2011-07-21.
  3. ^ "China makes nuclear power development". Xinhua. 31 October 2012. Archived from the original on December 21, 2014. Retrieved 2012-10-31.
  4. ^ a b "Chinese fast reactor completes full-power test run". world nuclear news. December 2014. Retrieved 2015-01-19.
  5. ^ "China's Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR) Program". Nuclear Threat Initiative. February 2004. Archived from the original on 2008-02-08. Retrieved 2010-07-23.
  6. ^ "China begins construction of CFR-600 fast reactor". Nuclear Engineering International. 4 January 2018. Retrieved 2018-07-11.
  7. ^ Eimer, David (January 2012). "China denies nuclear accident". Telegraph Media Group. Retrieved 2012-03-31.