Introduction of advanced pressurized water reactors in France
Designed >30 yr ago, pressurized water reactors (PWRs) have evolved well to match the current safety, operating, and economic requirements. The first advanced PWR generation, the N4 reactor, is under construction with 1992 as a target date for commercial operation. The N4 may be considered to be a technological outcome of PWR evolution, providing advances in the fields of safety, man/machine interfaces, and load flexibility. As a step beyond N4, a second advanced PWR generation is presently under definition with, as a main objective, a greater ability to cope with the possible deterioration of the natural uranium market. In 1986, Electricite de France (EdF) launched investigations into the possible characteristics of this advanced PWR, called REP-2000 (PWR-2000: the reactor for the next century). Framatome joined EdF in 1987 but had been working on a new tight-lattice reactor. Main options are due by 1988; preliminary studies will begin and, by 1990, detailed design will proceed with the intent of firm commitments for the first unit by 1995. Commissioning is planned in the early years of the next century. This reactor type should be either an improved version of the N4 reactor or a spectral shift convertible reactor (RCVS). Through research and development efforts, Framatome, Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique (CEA), and EdF are investigating the physics of fuel rod tight lattices including neutronics, thermohydraulics, fuel behavior, and reactor mechanics.
- OSTI ID:
- 5581035
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-881011--
- Journal Information:
- Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (USA), Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (USA) Vol. 57; ISSN TANSA; ISSN 0003-018X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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