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-----Original Message-----
From: Jerry Cuttler [mailto:jerrycuttler@rogers.com] Food for thought ...
<SNIP> Stephane Lhomme from the
anti-nuclear group Sortir du nucléaire ('Get rid of nuclear power') told
IPS that .... Superphénix never
generated a watt of power.
<end quote>
As a matter of fact,
Superphénix generated 1,250 million watts of power (1,250
MWe).
Being a prototype power
plant, it experienced some technical problems in its initial
years.
Construction of Superphénix started in december 1974.
It operated
at full power for the first time on December 9,
1986.
Major modifications were
performed prior to 1994, during a four-year shutdown (see Nuclear Eng. Int.,
July 1994).
The modifications were
carried out in about half that time, but regulatory stalling prolonged the
shutdown period.
Before the shutdown, the
plant produced 4.6 billion kWh during 7,400 hours of operation
at different power regimes.
Following resolution of
all the bugs, Superphénix operated at 90% of its capacity - its maximum
authorized power level (see Revue Générale Nucléaire, Mai-Jun
1997).
In 1996 Superphénix
demonstrated reliable operation, by operating with a 95% capacity factor for 10
months, producing 3.5 billion kWh.
The plant's license was cancelled on "procedural
grounds" in February 1997.
On June 19, 1997, the
new Prime Minister, Lionel Jospin, announced in his general policy statement at
the parliament that operations at the Superphénix breeder reactor would be
discontinued.
On Feburary 2 1998 the French government ordered the
permanent shutdown of the Superphénix reactor.
This was a strictly political
decision, stemming from an election deal of the Socialist minority
government with the French Greens.
Stephane Lhomme's antinuke disinformation is not surprising.
What is surprising is that after the Superphénix political fiasco,
the ITER organisation decided to build their project in
France.
Who knows, maybe the Sortir du
nucléaire environistas will teach them a lesson :-)
Jaro
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