Fugen Nuclear Power Plant
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| Fugen Nuclear Power Plant | |
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| File:Fugen NPP 1975.jpg
The Fugen NPP in 1975, Image: Japan Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport
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 Location of Fugen Nuclear Power Plant in Japan
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| Country | Japan |
| Coordinates | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
| Construction began | May 10, 1972 |
| Commission date | March 20, 1979 |
| Decommission date | March 29, 2003 |
| Operator(s) | Japan Atomic Energy Agency |
| Nuclear power station | |
| Reactor type | HWLWR |
| Power generation | |
| Units decommissioned | 1 x 165 MW |
| Annual generation | 345 |
Fugen ふげん (Fugen?) is a prototype Japanese nuclear test reactor that is shut down and awaiting decommission. It is located in Myōjin-chō, in the city of Tsuruga, Fukui. The design is an Advanced Thermal Reactor, which is a product of Japan. The name "Fugen" is derived from Fugen Bosatsu (Samantabhadra), a Buddhist deity.
The reactor was the first in the world to use a full MOX fuel core. It had 772 assemblies, the most in the world. It has received the title of a historic landmark from the American Nuclear Society.
The design boils ordinary water like a boiling water reactor (BWR) but uses heavy water as a moderator as in a CANDU reactor. The electrical output was 165 MW and the thermal output was 557 MW. On March 3, 2005, the reactor stopped operations.
- Core temperature: 300 °C
- Pellet centerline temperature: 2200 °C
- Fuel conversion time: 6 months
The plant is located on a site that covers 267,694 m2 (66 acres); buildings occupy 7,762 m2 (1.9 acres), and it has 46,488 m2 of floor space. It employed 256 workers.[1]
Accidents
- 14–16 April 1997: A tritium leakage was announced to the responsible authorities 30 hours after the event. During the following investigation it was shown that it already had 11 similar incidents. Five managers of the operator at that time (at the time Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation) resigned.
- 8 April 2002: About 200 cubic meters of steam escaped from a defective pipe. The reactor was switched off.
During dismantling operations it was found that walls with controls did not have the necessary strength at 25 of 34 points.
References
- ↑ JAEA (Japanese). Facilities Quick View.
External links
- Official website
- Fugen Decommissioning Engineering Center
- Transcript of NHK TV special in Japanese NHK video
