France Abandons Superphenix Breeder Reactor

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@ix.netcom.com>]

Another blow to nuclear generated power:

   PARIS, Feb 2 (AFP) - France on Monday scrapped its controversial 
and trouble-plagued Superphenix nuclear power station, an under-used,
unpopular facility that finally caused more trouble than it was deemed
to be worth. 
   French Finance Minister Dominique Strauss-Kahn announced the 
long-expected decision to a press conference, saying it had been taken
by an interministerial committee under the chair of Prime Minister
Lionel Jospin. 
   Jospin had announced last June that the plant -- out of action 
since December 1996 -- would be definitively closed after people in
the area expressed fears at living in the installation's shadow. 
   Launched as the jewel of France's nuclear generating program,  the
Superphenix produced only a fraction of its capacity, and at a huge
cost. 
   Ever since the decision was taken in May 1977 to build the plant 
at Creys-Malville, on the banks of the river Rhone near Lyon in
eastern France, it has been plagued by a series of problems, mishaps
and opposition. 
   Local villagers, ecologists and authorities in neighboring  
Switzerland fiercely opposed the project in its early years. 
   When production finally began in September 1985 ecologists'  
fears seemed to be confirmed with reports, first that liquid sodium
was leaking, and later that it was oxydizing between the reactor and
the electricity generators. 
   Superphenix was temporarily closed for repairs in 1987 and again 
in 1990. Plagued by technical problems, the decision to close the
plant definitively was one of the first actions taken by the Socialist
government elected in June 1997. 
   France has over 50 nuclear plants and relies on nuclear energy  to
meet a far greater proportion of its needs than any other major
industrial country, although it ranks behind the United States in the
quantity of electricity generated from nuclear power. 
   Some 77.36 percent of France's electricity (378.2 terawatt hours 
out of 490.2 terawatts in 1996) is generated by nuclear power. 
   This compares to 30.29 percent in Germany (152.8 terawatts),  26.04
percent in Britain (85.9 terawatts), 31.97 in Spain (53.8 terawatts)
and 57.18 percent in Belgium (41.40 terawatts). 
   Only 21.92 percent of electricity (674.78 terawatts) is  
generated by nuclear power in the United States according to figures
supplied by the International Atomic Energy Agency for 1996. 
   Italy abandoned all use of nuclear power following the Chenobyl 
nuclear disaster in April 1986. 
   The huge costs of Superphenix contributed to French Prime  
Minister Lionel Jospin's decision to close the plant. 
   The total cost of the project, well above initial estimates, is 
now put at approximately 6.2 billion dollars, including 3.6 billion in
construction costs, for a yield of eight billion kilowatthours of
electricity over its ten year period in operation. 
   The French electricity company, EDF, which owns 51 percent of  the
plant, will foot most of the bill. Other shareholders include the
Italian company ENEL which holds 33 percent, the SBK consortium with
16 percent as well as several British, Dutch and Belgian companies. 
   The plant is the world's largest "fast breeder" nuclear reactor 
and is housed in an 80-metre high concrete building with a diametre of
67 metres. 
   Breeder reactors produce nuclear fuel -- in this case plutonium  --
as fast as if not faster than they consume it, a process that does not
exist anywhere in nature. 
------------------
Sandy Perle
Technical Director
ICN Dosimetry Division
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Office: (800) 548-5100 x2306 
Fax:    (714) 668-3149
  
sandyfl@ix.netcom.com
sperle@icnpharm.com

Personal Homepage: http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/1205

ICN Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com

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