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Revision to the MOU among JAEA, CEA, and DOE concerning cooperation on demonstration/prototype Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactors

Aug. 26, 2008

Aiming at the establishment of fast reactor and related fuel cycle system, the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), France�s Commissariat � l�Energie Atomique (CEA), and the United States Department of Energy (DOE) have mutually harmonized research and development toward the commercialization of sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) and contributed to the development of successful demonstration/prototype SFRs in the following areas through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed on January 31, 2008.

  • Establishing design goals, high level requirements, and common safety principles for the prototypes;
  • Identifying key technical innovations to reduce capital, operating, and maintenance Costs;
  • Discussing the power level, type (loop vs. pool), fuel, and schedule of prototype sodium-cooled fast reactors;
  • Identifying commonly usable research facilities of each organization and listing them.

These three organizations, then, revised the MOU to expand the scope of their cooperation and consult on appropriate arrangements for their future cooperation in the light of the positive results of their cooperation under the MOU of January 31, 2008, and signed the revised MOU on August, 25, 2008, including the following areas.

  • Exploring a plan to reflect data and experience from the Monju reactor restart to future demonstration/prototype reactors,
  • Discussing a common strategy regarding research and facilities that will be needed to produce and qualify minor actinide-bearing transmutation fuel or targets, and
  • Discussing advanced fast reactor fuel cycle characteristics.

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