The China Experimental Fast Reactor (CEFR) is
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
's first
fast nuclear reactor, and is located outside
Beijing
Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
at the
China Institute of Atomic Energy.
It aims to provide China with fast-reactor design, construction, and operational experience, and will be a key facility for testing and researching components and materials to be used in subsequent fast reactors.
The reactor achieved first criticality on July 21, 2010
and started generating power a year later on July 21, 2011.
In October 2012 Xinhua announced that the CEFR has passed official checks.
The CEFR was brought to full power at 5.00pm on 15 December 2014 and operated at this level continuously for three full days.
CEFR is a 65
MW thermal, 20 MW electric, sodium-cooled, pool-type reactor with a 30-year design lifetime and a target
burnup of 100 MWd/kg.
The CEFR was built by Russia's
OKBM Afrikantov in collaboration with
OKB Gidropress
OKB Gidropress () is a Russian state construction office which works on the design, analysis, development, and production of nuclear power plant reactors, most notably the VVER range. OKB stands for experimental design bureau (опытно-кон ...
, NIKIET and
Kurchatov Institute
The Kurchatov Institute (, National Research Centre "Kurchatov Institute") is Russia's leading research and development institution in the field of nuclear power, nuclear energy. It is named after Igor Kurchatov and is located at 1 Kurchatov Sq ...
.
The CEFR project was approved by the Chinese State Council in 1992, with final approval given in 1995.
The China Experimental Fast Reactor is one of the major energy projects under
863 Program
The 863 program () or State High-Tech Development Plan () was a program funded and administered by the government of the People's Republic of China intended to stimulate the development of advanced technologies in a wide range of fields for th ...
, the national high-tech research and development program. The China Institute of Atomic Energy (CIAE) is the organizer of the project's construction.
Japan's Atomic Energy Agency (AEA) reported that the reactor stopped generating electricity in October 2011 following an accident; however, the director of the China Institute of Atomic Energy (CIAE) denied that any accident had occurred.
See also
*
Nuclear power in China
According to the National Nuclear Safety Administration of China, as of 2024 Dec 31, there are 58 nuclear power-plants operating in mainland China, second only to the US which has 94. The installed power sits at 60.88 GW, ranked third after ...
*
CFR-600
The CFR-600 (Xiapu fast reactor pilot project) is a sodium-cooled pool-type fast-neutron nuclear reactor under construction in Xiapu County, Fujian province, China, on Changbiao Island. It is a generation IV demonstration project by the Chi ...
References
{{Nuclear power in the PRC
Nuclear reactors
Nuclear technology in China