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Superphénix's cost ended up becoming higher than expected because of the months and months of being in a stopped state (stopped so that every precaution could be checked over and over again after some flaw was found, of course, but also often stopped because of administrative & politic turmoil. it was turned off during 3/4 of its lifetime).

It was more of a slander victim if you ask me than a failure.

by Alex in Toulouse on Thu Jun 8th, 2006 at 10:30:35 AM EST
[ Parent ]
How does the second paragraph follow from the first?

And how come another breakdown followed those according to you over-careful checks? IIRC there have been four major and three moderate breakdowns, the first major already during the initial runup. If anything, this points not to a slander victim but a failure maintained against all reason for too long.

*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.

by DoDo on Thu Jun 8th, 2006 at 12:33:39 PM EST
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The 2nd paragraph is a general conclusion on Superphénix, which you will have to agree with as soon as I turn on my hypnotic voice.
by Alex in Toulouse on Thu Jun 8th, 2006 at 01:14:31 PM EST
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I believe in breeders, yet I cannot defend superphenix as anything else than a good lesson as to "bad design choices for breeders". I would gladly have a nuclear plant in my back yard, but certainly not one with hundreds of tons of liquid sodium !! All breeders based on sodium cooling (including IFR, whatever the promises of waste elimination it holds) are nuts, that's my deepest feeling.

We need to do research into thorium breeding, which doesn't require sodium cooling, or otherwise separate the breeding from the electricity production: if breeding plutonium, don't try recover the heat with such a calamitous fluid.

Pierre
by Pierre on Fri Jun 9th, 2006 at 10:39:10 AM EST
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