Breeder Development and the Franco-German Cooperation.

The development of fast breeder reactors in France is at present characterized by the successful operation of the 250 MW reactor, Phenix, and the speedy progress made in construction of the 1200 MW Superphenix plant. The technical concept of Superphenix is a logical extension of the Phenix concept, i. e. , the pool type sodium cooled breeder reactor. While the only change in the primary system has been an increase in capacity, the main modification over Phenix is the change from small modular steam generators to four large units. The development of the work to date does not cast any doubt upon the envisaged data of first criticality in the second half of 1982. The basis of German-French cooperation is a joint declaration by the then Ministers for Research of the two countries on February 13, 1976 in which the Ministers had expressed themselves in favor of close cooperation between both countries in the development of safe, reliable and economic fast breeder reactors. On this basis, the two governments, the research centers and the industrial partners in the two countries, including the previous partners in Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy, agreed on the general principles of this cooperation. Meanwhile, the cooperation formalized in 1977 has been activated. Both in research and development and among planning and building industries the exchange of know-how and cooperation is in full swing. The joint company, SERENA, is the pool for the know-how introduced by the partners and the sole representative of the partners in the scheme.