Experimental Breeder Reactor II

Abstract

The Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II) operated from 1964 to 1994. EBR-II was a sodium-cooled fast reactor operating at 69 MWth producing 19 MWe. Rather than using a loop approach for the coolant, EBR-II used a pool arrangement where the reactor core, primary coolant piping, and primary reactor coolant pumps were contained within the pool of sodium. Also contained within the pool was a heat exchanger where primary coolant, which is radioactive, transferred heat to secondary, nonradioactive, sodium. The nuclear power plant included a sodium boiler building where heat from the secondary sodium generated superheated steam, which was delivered to a turbine/generator for electricity production. EBR-II fuel was metallic uranium alloyed with various metals providing significant performance and safety enhancements over oxide fuel. The most significant EBR-II experiments occurred in April 1986. Relying on inherent physical properties of the reactor, two experiments were performed subjecting the reactor to loss of primary coolant flow without reactor SCRAM and loss of the secondary system heat removal without reactor SCRAM. In both experiments, the reactor experienced no damage. This chapter provides a description of the most important design features of EBR-II along with a summary of the landmark reactor safety experiments.