In February 1968, when Rapsodie had been operating for one year, excavation work began at Marcoule for the construction of the 250 MWe (563 MWt) Phenix reactor. In 1969, the CEA and Electricite de France (EDF, France’s Government-owned utility) signed a protocol for the joint construction and operation of the Phenix plant. Ownership and costs were shared 80 percent by the CEA and 20 percent by EDF. The standard Phenix core contains 931 kg plutonium containing 77 percent plutonium-239. The reactor went critical on 31 August 1973 and was connected to the grid on 13 December 1973,3 a year ahead of the 250 MWe Prototype Fast Reactor (PFR) in the United Kingdom. Until 2005, the mean length of reactor runs was 90 days and the fuel reached burn-ups of up to 150,000 MWd/t.4

On 17 October 1973, between the dates of criticality and grid connection of Phenix, OPEC member countries halted oil deliveries to a number of countries that supported Israel and significantly increased the price of crude oil. In 1974, the French Government committed to its first large series of power reactors, 16 units. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) forecast up to 4,450 gigawatts (GW) of nuclear power installed by year 2000. Between 1973 and 1976 uranium prices increased from $6 to $40 per pound on the spot market. Plutonium was seen as a solution to long-term nuclear fuel supply concerns.

Until the end of the 1980s, Phenix had a remarkable operational record. Then, after a number of unexplained reactivity transients, the load factor plunged virtually to zero. The incidents had serious potential safety implications. The reactor remained shut down most of the period between 1991 and 1994 until an extensive research program was carried out. It was restarted for very short periods, however — probably to avoid the legal requirement of an entire new licensing procedure after a two-year shutdown. In addition, a costly refurbishment program was undertaken between 1994 and 2002 (see figure 2.1 for operational history).

[і — I Grid-connected operation

I Planned shutdown, fuel handling, tests I 1 Forced Outage

m

П

IIII III III

76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 S4 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 44 95 96 97 98 99 00 01

Year

Figure 2.1 Operational history of France’s Phenix breeder reactor, 1974-2002.

Na is the chemical symbol for sodium. Source: IAEA, Fast Reactor Database 2006 Update.

In June 2003, the National Safety Authority ASN (Autorite de Surete Nucleaire) authorized the restart of Phenix for six refueling periods at less than two thirds of its original power. This allowed operation until the end of 2008 and into 2009. Nominal power was decreased from 233 megawatt electric (MWe) net to 130 MWe net. As of the end of 2007 the reactor had a cumulative load factor of 44.6 percent.5 Phenix was shut down in 2009.