Cray Malvil Nuclear Power Plant

In mid-April 1976, President Valerie Giscard d'Estaing and his energy advisers made the political decision to build Superphenix.

In the summer of 1976, nearly 20 thousand demonstrators penetrated the site, protesting against plans to build a fast reactor. In the period 1974-1976, about 50 local municipalities were in opposition to the project. The confrontation escalated and found its tragic exit in the events of July 31, 1977 . On this day, about 50 thousand demonstrators clashed with the police. One of the protesters was killed, two lost their arms and legs. And in 1982, protests reached radical forms. A group of anti-nuclear activists received an RPG-7 grenade launcher and eight shots to it from the German terrorist organization RAF. On January 18, 1982, five shots were fired at the site. Material damage turned out to be small, but the attention of politicians and the media was provided.

On January 14, 1986, Superphenix was connected to the grid. Almost immediately, he faced a number of technical and administrative problems.

The first major incident at Superphenix happened in May 1987 . Personnel discovered a large sodium leak from the tank of the fuel handling system. It was not possible to repair the tank. It took 10 months to develop a new procedure for loading and unloading fuel cartridges from the core. After the new fuel handling procedure was proposed, another 13 months were spent on its qualification and obtaining permits. Thus, Superphenix returned to operation only in April 1989 .

After the restart, the reactor worked at low power levels. In July 1990, a new disaster occurred - compressor failure led to the injection of a significant amount of air into the circuit and to the oxidation of sodium. It took eight months to clean the sodium.

And in December 1990, after heavy snow, the roof of the engine room collapsed. The launch of Superphenix has been the subject of lengthy parliamentary hearings and debates at the national and regional levels. In June 1992, the government scheduled new public hearings for the period March 30 - June 14, 1993. In January 1994, the government received feedback from atomic surveillance authorities. In July 1994, finally, a new operating license was issued. The block returned to duty - and worked for only seven months. The reason for the next shutdown was the leak of argon into the heat exchanger.

Before the Christmas holidays on December 24, 1996, the block stopped at the PPR and to prepare for work on the transmutation research program. However, on February 28, 1997, the state council revoked the operating license. On June 19, 1997, Prime Minister Lionel Jospin announced: "Superphenix will be closed." On December 30, 1998, a decree was signed that issued the decision to close Superphenix ^[1] .

As a result, for 11 years after connecting to electric networks, the station was in operation for 63 months, mainly at low power; For 25 months she was disconnected for technical reasons, and 66 months for political and administrative reasons ^[2] .