The Birth of the fast breeder reactor

Yanagisawa, Tsutomu; Tanabe, Hiromi

The first story of this serial handles the early days of FBRs. The progress of nuclear physics in the 1930's led to the development of the FBR. Fast neutrons as for fission generator, plutonium for nuclear fuels and liquid metal as for the coolant were selected to obtain a higher breeding ratio. Based on the experience of the Clementine Reactor, the EBR-I went critical in August 1951. Moreover, they succeeded in electricity generation in December 1951 and later confirmed breeding. The results of EBR-I project are thought to demonstrate the controllability of the fast neutron, the utility of liquid metals, and the reality of breeding.