goingcritical:monjuJapan · Power reactor
Monju
Status: Shut down reached first criticality April 5, 1994 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: Tsuruga, Fukui
Japan's prototype sodium-cooled fast breeder reactor and centerpiece of its plutonium fuel-cycle ambitions. Reached first criticality in 1994 but a serious sodium coolant leak and fire in December 1995 kept it idle for most of its life; it generated power for only a few months total. The government decided to decommission it in December 2016, and it was formally permanently shut down in 2017.
Details
| Design | Sodium-cooled fast breeder reactor (FBR prototype) |
| Electrical output | 246 MWe |
Milestone history
- Announced —
- Construction start May 10, 1986
- Fuel load —
- First criticality April 5, 1994
- Grid connection August 29, 1995
- Commercial operation —