Development, operational experience and implications for future design of FBRS in Japan

Joyo, the 100 MW t experimental reactor, has been successfully operated since 1977, and Monju, the 280 MW e prototype FBR, is under construction, with the first criticality planned for 1992. To promote FBR R&D efficiently — including the demonstration FBR (DFBR) programme — a steering committee for R&D was organized in 1986 by the Japan Atomic Power Company, the Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation, the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute and the Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry. A design study of the DFBR is now underway to define its basic specifications by 1990. R&D for Monju, DFBR and future commercial FBRS has been done (1) to improve key technologies developed through the Joyo and Monju programmes; (2) to develop innovative technologies to make FBRS commercial; (3) to promote FBR development in conjunction with the development of the FBR fuel cycle.