Energy report

Britain´s experimental fast breeder reactor at Dounreay, Scotland, has successfully completed a series of safety experiments, which culminated in a test in which the reactor coolant, liquid sodium, was deliberately stopped from circulating. During the test, the nuclear-fuel temperature exceeded 1000°C, causing the stainless-steel containers to melt, and although the fuel came into contact with the sodium coolant, no adverse affects have been reported. The 13-MW (electrical) reactor was completed in 1959. A second reactor, the 250-MW (e) prototype fast breeder reactor, also located at Dounreay, began delivering electric power to the United Kingdom in 1974.