InFrance,CEA andEDF had started to buildPhénix in 1968, which was powered up in December 1973.It was a pool-type liquid-metal fast breeder reactor cooled with liquidsodium and a small-scale (gross 264/net 233 MWe) prototypefast breeder reactor, located at theMarcoule nuclear site, nearOrange, France. Phénix had to be stopped for refueling every two months. Between 1990 and 1996, it was run sporadically. Despite this, Phénix, as a demonstrator was seen as a technical success.[2]
When the project for the subsequent full-scale power-plant prototypeSuperphénix was started in 1986, it was generally felt[who?] that no more experimental FBT prototypes were needed. Superphénix, being a prototype reactor, demonstrated reliability issues and had a historical capacity factor of less than 14.4%.[3] Many of these problems were solved over time, and by 1996 the prototype was reaching its design operational goals.
The RussianBN-600 reactor is a similar sodium-cooled fast breeder reactor, built at the Beloyarsk Nuclear Power Station, in Russia. Designed to generate electrical power of 600 MW in total, the plant dispatches 560 MW to the Middle Urals power grid. It has been in operation since 1980 and represents an evolution on the preceding BN-350 reactor. In 2014, a larger version of the reactor, theBN-800, began operation and reached full commercial operation in August 2016.
In late 1972, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands charged theSiemens subsidiary Interatom to build afast breeder. The German government wanted to limit energy import, and a breeder facility was required to use the limited resources efficiently as theuranium supply in Germany was limited.The building commenced at the end of the same year.
Massive protest in Kalkar, 1977July 25 1981, security at the main gate
1972: The project commences.
April 25, 1973: foundation stone ceremony
September 28, 1974, protest demonstrations in Kalkar. Farmer Josef Maas was the main plaintiff. The protests and demonstrations that followed received many participants from the Netherlands.
1977: Increasing public doubt about the safety of nuclear energy culminates in the first protest, involving about 40,000 people marching in the streets ofKalkar.
March 28, 1979:Three Mile Island suffers a partial meltdown and a localanti-nuclear movement causes open questioning of the project. This discussion leads to an inquiry by a commission of theBundestag. Building is interrupted for 4 years as the commission concludes that the safety of the facility needs to be upgraded in light of the difficult to control process of fast breeders, along with concerns about the coolant (sodium, which can explode when in contact with water). The interruption along with the redesign of the safety features raise the costs of the project significantly. The local state government ofNorth Rhine-Westphalia turns against the project.
1985: SNR-300 is completed. The reactor is taken into partial operation. Thesodium coolant is already running through the coolant loop and has to be kept hot using electric heating elements so it does not solidify. The reactor is ready to receive nuclear materials. In this phase, the running costs are over€5 million per month.[5][clarification needed] The state government (which has authority in matters of nuclear power and environmental issues) blocks the opening of the plant, against the wishes of the federal government. As elections are coming up (Bundestagswahl 25 January 1987), the German government unofficially decides not to take SNR-300 into operation just yet. At this point neither the country government, nor the local state government (MP from 1978 to 1998 wasJohannes Rau) want the facility to become operational. Plans for a second facility,SNR-2, planned to produce 1,500 megawatts, are officially cancelled around this time. Farmer Maas retires from his role as main plaintiff.
1991: The official cancellation of the SNR-300 is offered on 21 March. The demolition of parts of the facility costs another 75 million euros. The unused machinery is put on sale. The reactor core is transferred to storage elsewhere. The breeder material, already bought for the operation of the facility, is transferred to France where it is mixed intoMOX fuel, which is used by a number ofFrance's nuclear reactors.
1995: The facility is put up for auction by way of an announcement in the newspapers. The Dutch investor/developerHennie van der Most buys the property for 2.5 million euros. The site is dismantled and transformed into an amusement park namedKernwasser Wunderland ("Nuclear water Wonderland"). It includes ahotel with 400 beds, and all inclusive tickets for families at the funfair.
2005: the facility is renamed intoWunderland Kalkar ("Wonderland Kalkar"). The area is enlarged with fields for outdoor events.
2022: the amusement park is sold to the Dutch company 'DeFabrique'.
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