goingcritical:bugey-1France · Power reactor
Bugey-1
Status: Shut down reached first criticality March 21, 1972 Reactor status full glossary → Announced Publicly announced — a site and design are proposed, but construction has not begun. Site preparation Early site and civil works are under way; the first safety-related ("nuclear") concrete has not yet been poured. Under construction Formal construction has begun, marked by the first nuclear concrete. Fuel loaded Nuclear fuel has been loaded into the core. The reactor is fuelled but has not yet gone critical. Critical Has reached first criticality — a self-sustaining chain reaction, usually at low power — but is not yet connected to the grid. Grid connected Synchronised to the electrical grid and exporting power for the first time, but still in commissioning and power-ascension testing — not yet in commercial service. In commercial operation — the operator has formally declared the unit in regular commercial service. Shut down Permanently shut down and no longer generating; may be defuelled, undergoing decommissioning, or preserved in place. Canceled Abandoned before completion.
Site: Bugey, Ain
The last and most powerful UNGG gas-graphite reactor built in the world, on the Rhône in the Ain. First went critical on 21 March 1972. It marked the end of France's natural-uranium graphite-gas line before the switch to PWRs. Permanently shut down 27 May 1994.
Details
| Design | UNGG (gas-graphite, natural-uranium graphite-moderated, CO2-cooled) |
| Electrical output | 540 MWe |
Milestone history
- Announced —
- Construction start December 1, 1965
- Fuel load —
- First criticality March 21, 1972
- Grid connection April 15, 1972
- Commercial operation July 1, 1972