Fugen was a prototype Japanese nuclear test reactor. Fugen was a domestic Japanese design for a demonstration Advanced Thermal Reactor. It was a heavy water moderated, boiling light water cooled reactor. The reactor was started in 1979 and shut down in 2003. As of 2018, it is undergoing

decommissioning Decommissioning is a general term for a formal process to remove something from an active status, and may refer to: Infrastructure * Decommissioned offshore * Decommissioned highway * Greenfield status of former industrial sites * Nuclear decommi ...

. It is located in Myōjin-chō, in the city of

Tsuruga, Fukui is a city located in Fukui Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 66,123 in 28,604 households and the population density of 260 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Geography Tsuruga is located in centra ...

. The name "Fugen" is derived from Fugen Bosatsu ( Samantabhadra), a

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

deity. The reactor was the first in the world to use a full

MOX fuel Mixed oxide fuel, commonly referred to as MOX fuel, is nuclear fuel that contains more than one oxide of fissile material, usually consisting of plutonium blended with natural uranium, reprocessed uranium, or depleted uranium. MOX fuel is an al ...

core. It had 772 assemblies, the most in the world. It has received the title of a

historic landmark A historic site or heritage site is an official location where pieces of political, military, cultural, or social history have been preserved due to their cultural heritage value. Historic sites are usually protected by law, and many have been rec ...

from the

American Nuclear Society The American Nuclear Society (ANS) is an international, not-for-profit organization of scientists, engineers, and industry professionals that promote the field of nuclear engineering and related disciplines. ANS is composed of three communities: ...

. The design boils ordinary water like a

boiling water reactor A boiling water reactor (BWR) is a type of light water nuclear reactor used for the generation of electrical power. It is a design different from a Soviet graphite-moderated RBMK. It is the second most common type of electricity-generating nu ...

(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. *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.JAEA (Japanese)
Facilities Quick View
.

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 The or for short, was a Japanese nuclear energy research organization established 2 October 1967 with the Atomic Fuel Corporation as its parent organization and disbanded in 1998 to be restructured as the Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institut ...

) 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

External links

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Fugen Decommissioning Engineering CenterNHK video
{{Japan Nuclear Plants Heavy water reactors Nuclear power stations in Japan Buildings and structures in Fukui Prefecture 1970s establishments in Japan