Rapsodie

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Rapsodie was an experimental nuclear reactor built at Cadarache in France. It was France’s first fast reactor and achieved criticality in 1967. The reactor used liquid sodium for cooling and ran as a fast neutron loop with a thermal output of 40 MW, but it did not generate electricity. It operated until 1983, and its design mimicked commercial plants by running at high temperatures (inlet about 400°C, outlet about 550°C) and a strong neutron flux. Rapsodie helped validate technologies for later, larger breeder reactors. During its 15 years of operation it suffered two leaks: a tiny sodium leak in 1978 that was never detected, and a nitrogen gas leak in 1982. It is now in Stage 2 of decommissioning.