Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactors: the ASTRID Plant Project

Abstract

ln the framework of the French Act, the 28th of June 2006, about nuclear materials and waste management, an actinides incineration demonstration prototype is to be commissioned in the 2020 decade.CEA has launched this prototype, called ASTRID (Advanced Sodium Technological Reactor for Industrial Demonstration) to demonstrate the performances and the progress made in SFR technology on an industrial scale by qualifying innovative options to meet the objectives of the fourth generation reactors; some of these options still remain open in the areas requiring research and development programs, especially in safety and reliability.ASTRID will consider the inspection and repair from the beginning of the design and will also be used as a test bench for advanced techniques in this field.More specifically, we are aiming for a level of safety that is at least equivalent to that of the third generation reactors, with progress made in SFR-specific fields.To meet the requirements of the above-mentioned act, ASTRID will also be designed to investigate and to demonstrate the feasibility of transmutation of radwaste: it will be replacing the PHENIX plant in terms of an irradiation reactor so as to test homogenous and heterogeneous minor actinide recycling modes, whose industrial interest is currently being assessed in the frame of the Act. The first deadline set by the French Act of 28 June 2006 is for late 2012, at which time the authorities must be provided with an assessment of the industrial perspectives on actinides transmutation. To remain consistent with the general schedule fixed by the Act, the CEA decided to launch the phase of the preliminary design of the ASTRID prototype in 2010 in order to be able to present at the same occasion (late 2012) preliminary budgetary evaluations (especially in terms of amount investment schedule), and technical facts so that a decision on the following steps can be reached. An assessment of the fixed and still open-ended options will be established at this date, together with the planning and cost evaluation (including R&D) of next phases.Phase 1 of the preliminary design also aims at obtaining an initial opinion from the French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) on the safety orientations recommended for ASTRID, in order to check their suitability.Phase 2 of the preliminary design will take place between 2013 and 2014, including the drafting and submittal to ASN of the Safety Options Report, a deeper assessment of retained options and hard points, and a consolidation of cost and planning figures.ln order to benefit from the unique feedback existing in France on Sodium Fast Reactors, the CEA partnered, among others, with EDF, as experienced SFR operator and general architect, and with AREVA, as experienced SFR Nuclear Island engineer and component’s designer.This paper presents the current state of the project, the first design options and the main milestones.