Fast Flux Test Facility
Encyclopedia
The Fast Flux Test Facility is a 400 MW nuclear test reactor
Nuclear reactor
A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Most commonly they are used for generating electricity and for the propulsion of ships. Usually heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid , which runs through turbines that power either ship's...

 owned by the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Department of Energy
United States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...

.
It is situated in the 400 Area of the Hanford Site
Hanford Site
The Hanford Site is a mostly decommissioned nuclear production complex on the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington, operated by the United States federal government. The site has been known by many names, including Hanford Works, Hanford Engineer Works or HEW, Hanford Nuclear Reservation...

, which is located in the state of Washington.

History

The construction of the FFTF was completed in 1978, and the first reaction took place in 1980. From April 1982 to April 1992 it operated as a national research facility to test various aspects of commercial reactor design and operation, especially relating to breeder reactor
Breeder reactor
A breeder reactor is a nuclear reactor capable of generating more fissile material than it consumes because its neutron economy is high enough to breed fissile from fertile material like uranium-238 or thorium-232. Breeders were at first considered superior because of their superior fuel economy...

s. The FFTF is not a breeder reactor itself, but rather a sodium-cooled Fast neutron reactor
Fast neutron reactor
A fast neutron reactor or simply a fast reactor is a category of nuclear reactor in which the fission chain reaction is sustained by fast neutrons...

, as the name suggests.
It is stated on the site dedicated to the FFTF, that it tested "advanced nuclear fuels
Enriched uranium
Enriched uranium is a kind of uranium in which the percent composition of uranium-235 has been increased through the process of isotope separation. Natural uranium is 99.284% 238U isotope, with 235U only constituting about 0.711% of its weight...

, materials, components, nuclear power
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...

 plant operations and maintenance protocols, and reactor safety designs."
By 1993, the number of uses to which the reactor could be put was diminishing, so the decision was taken in December of that year to deactivate it. Over the next three years, the active parts of the facility were gradually halted, fuel rods removed and stored in above-ground dry storage vessels
Dry cask storage
Dry cask storage is a method of storing high-level radioactive waste, such as spent nuclear fuel that has already been cooled in the spent fuel pool for at least one year.. These casks are typically steel cylinders that are either welded or bolted closed. When inside, the fuel rods are surrounded...

.
However, in January 1997, the DOE ordered that the reactor be maintained in a standby
Standby
Standby may refer to:*Standby , a list in which passengers may request to be placed on to request an earlier or more convenient flight....

 condition, pending a decision as to whether to incorporate it into the US Government's tritium
Tritium
Tritium is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. The nucleus of tritium contains one proton and two neutrons, whereas the nucleus of protium contains one proton and no neutrons...

 production program, for both medical
Nuclear medicine
In nuclear medicine procedures, elemental radionuclides are combined with other elements to form chemical compounds, or else combined with existing pharmaceutical compounds, to form radiopharmaceuticals. These radiopharmaceuticals, once administered to the patient, can localize to specific organs...

 and fusion
Fusion power
Fusion power is the power generated by nuclear fusion processes. In fusion reactions two light atomic nuclei fuse together to form a heavier nucleus . In doing so they release a comparatively large amount of energy arising from the binding energy due to the strong nuclear force which is manifested...

 research.
Since then, due to legal wrangling, decommissioning has been stopped and restarted at intervals. In December 2001, the deactivation was continued, after the DOE found that it was not needed for tritium production. Work was halted in 2002 when court action was begun. As of May 2003, deactivation has continued, and it is currently in a state of cold standby.

In May 2005 the core support basket was drilled to drain the remaining sodium coolant, which effectively made the reactor unusable. However, a technical study is being pursued with regard to repairing the reactor. As the coolant was drained, the system was backfilled with high purity argon gas to prevent corrosion. The support basket is an unpressurized area, and the reactor core has not yet been breached (as of June 2006).
The reason for renewed interest in the FFTF is that the global atmosphere with regard to nuclear energy has changed due to current oil prices, and the US is pursuing nuclear power once again. To build a similar facility would cost an estimated $2–5 billion.

In April, 2006, the FFTF was honored by the American Nuclear Society
American Nuclear Society
The American Nuclear Society is an international, not-for-profit 501 scientific and educational organization with a membership of approximately 11,000 scientists, engineers, educators, students, and other associate members. Approximately 900 members live outside the United States in 40 countries....

 as a "National Nuclear Historic Landmark". Achievements cited include:
  • Radiation
    Radioactive decay
    Radioactive decay is the process by which an atomic nucleus of an unstable atom loses energy by emitting ionizing particles . The emission is spontaneous, in that the atom decays without any physical interaction with another particle from outside the atom...

     exposure to operators was 1/100th of commercial power reactors.
  • Established a world record for fuel performance.
  • Produced extremely high quality rare radioisotopes
    Radionuclide
    A radionuclide is an atom with an unstable nucleus, which is a nucleus characterized by excess energy available to be imparted either to a newly created radiation particle within the nucleus or to an atomic electron. The radionuclide, in this process, undergoes radioactive decay, and emits gamma...

     for medicine and industry.
  • Conducted the first passive safety testing.
  • Demonstrated commercial viability of breeder reactor components, materials and fuels.
  • Provided fundamental experimental data for fusion programs.
  • Advanced the fuels and materials development for space nuclear power.
  • Demonstrated miniaturized reactor test techniques.
  • Demonstrated the feasibility of transmuting radioactive technetium
    Technetium
    Technetium is the chemical element with atomic number 43 and symbol Tc. It is the lowest atomic number element without any stable isotopes; every form of it is radioactive. Nearly all technetium is produced synthetically and only minute amounts are found in nature...

    -99 into a non-radioactive element using a reactor. Technetium-99 is one of the most troublesome long-lived components of the nuclear waste
    Radioactive waste
    Radioactive wastes are wastes that contain radioactive material. Radioactive wastes are usually by-products of nuclear power generation and other applications of nuclear fission or nuclear technology, such as research and medicine...

     stream. Processing out this isotope
    Isotope
    Isotopes are variants of atoms of a particular chemical element, which have differing numbers of neutrons. Atoms of a particular element by definition must contain the same number of protons but may have a distinct number of neutrons which differs from atom to atom, without changing the designation...

    and destroying it, permanently reduces the risks associated with long term storage.

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