BR3 Nuclear Power Plant

The BR3 Pressurized Water Reactor under Westinghouse license, was started in 1962 and definitely shut down on June 30, 1987 at 24:00, due to the end of the license.

Selected in 1989 by the European Commission as one of the four pilot decommissioning projects in the framework of the European Commission five-year RTD programme on decommissioning of nuclear installations, the project started on site operation in 1991.

The first PWR in Belgium and in Europe

Figure 1. Flight view of the SCK-CEN showing BR1, BR2 and BR3

In January 1956, the construction of the first Belgian reactor, installed at the "Centre d'Etude de l'Energie Nucléaire - Studiecentrum voor Kernenergie" at Mol, BR1, made critical on May 11, was also finished. At that time, BR2, the materials testing reactor, was under construction. Belgium concluded a contract with Westinghouse for the purchase of a PWR-type nuclear power plant, the BR3: this was the second order recorded by Westinghouse with a view to a peaceful application.

BR3 was thus the first European PWR power plant in the history of nuclear power plants and taken into service in 1962.

This power plant has contributed to the development of the nuclear sector in Belgium for which the construction, together with France, of the first industrial PWR power plant in 1961, standed out as an important landmark. It was in that industrial context that the BR3 power plant has played its role as a demonstration unit both for the construction and the exploitation as for the development and improvement of related techniques.

The choice made by Belgium turned out to be a sagacious one, since at the present time PWR reactors supply 55 % of the installed world power, which confirms their reliable and economic character. The skill acquired by Belgian industry in this field is moreover put in concrete form by highly appreciated realizations contributing to its fame on the international market.

During many years, various countries requested the services of the BR3 for the qualification of their fuel elements, the training of specialized personnel and the development of new technologies.

After having envisaged for a short while the installation of this power plant near the site of the "1958 World Fair in Brussels" (Universal Exposition), which would then symbolically have been supplied with nuclear energy, the energy of the future, it was decided to construct the BR3 on the site of the Centre d'Etude de l'Energie Nucléaire - Studiecentrum voor Kernenergie at Mol. When the BR3 power plant was coupled to the distribution system for the first time on October 10, 1962, it was the first PWR power plant put into service in Europe and the first power plant constructed by Westinghouse outside the territory of the United States.

The BR3 power plant was constructed to allow the national industry to introduce itself at an early stage into this top technology and to offer the possibility to the producers of electricity to train their exploitation personnel in view of the application of nuclear energy in Belgium.

The Eleven BR3 operation campaigns (1962 - 1987)

Eleven successive operation campaigns , separated by periods for reloading the reactor with fuel were spread over the years starting from the first coupling to the distribution system, and has produced nearly 964.6 million kilowatthours and delivered 851.7 million kilowatthours.

During these years, the initial objective had progressively shifted: in the first years of operation, the BR3 power plant was almost exclusively used as a training school for exploitation personnel, but gradually it changed into a test station for prototype fuel.

During these years, some remarkable technical events have been recorded. In December 1963, for instance, during the first reloading of the reactor, a fuel assembly no longer enriched with uranium-235 - which was the fuel normally used - but with plutonium, was introduced into the reactor. This constituted "a world première" to the credit of the Belgian fuel manufacturing industry. Between the end of 1966 and the end of 1968, a reactor core of an original conception - called the Vulcain project - which seemed particularly promising for ship propulsion applications and resulting from Belgian-British cooperation, was tested in the BR3. The Belgian nuclear industry was able to acquire valuable experience from this project which, unfortunately, had no future in the economical field. From the next core onwards, the change of course at the BR3 was confirmed: contracts for the irradiation of prototype fuels were concluded both with foreign and Belgian fuel manufacturers. British, French, American and German fuels were loaded into the reactor together with nationally produced fuel, and plutonium enriched fuel took an ever increasing part, this in the scope of a policy for preparing plutonium recycling in the nuclear power plants.

Figure 4. Introduction of the vessel in the containment building

Between early 1974 and mid-1975, the personnel of the electricity producers which under the care of the company Synatom constituted the majority of the BR3 exploitation personnel, was progressively withdrawn ; the relief was assured by the "Centre d'Etude de l'Energie Nucléaire" which, from that moment onwards, extended its management to all aspects of the BR3 power plant.

The BR3 power plant has been a very solicited instrument: two international programmes (HBEP and TRIBULATION), with important financial support from abroad, have been added to the bilateral irradiation contracts. As shown by the availability factor, the excellent state of operation of the power plant could be maintained as a result of a policy of renewal of equipment and new investments.

As in any other PWR power plant, one of the limits to the exploitation duration is conditioned by the irradiation state of the reactor vessel, since this irradiation reduces the ductibility of the mild steel used for the construction of the vessel.

The follow-up of the situation is the object of a large program of activities conducted in close co-operation with the specialized American circles, thus giving the Belgian experts the opportunity to participate in the progress of technological knowledge in this field. One subsequent campaign (core 4D) has been realized. Conception and realization of core 4D were consequently going on and were finished by mid-83. This campaign, which implied a short intermediate stop for partial refuelling, ended by mid-86.

In this respect, the reactor vessel needed particular attention, since other large equipment such as the steam generator and the turbine alternator group practically maintained unaffected all the technical qualities they had at the moment of their realization.

The reactor vessel has been submitted to various thermal treatments called annealing through which it was possible to recover, at different levels, the mechanical qualities which have gradually changed as a result of the irradiation. This annealing constituted a very interesting technological experiment of which the whole nuclear community could take advantage. Theoretical studies, supported by irradiation experiments have been carried out. They showed before the end of life of core 4C, whether an intervention on the vessel was necessary before starting campaign 4D or whether the object of a subsequent experiment, realized for its own interest, after the end of the active life of the power plant.

Test bench for advanced fuels

Initially equipped with a core representative of the early stage of nuclear technology, BR3 continued without interruption its role as test bench for advanced fuels.

In a later stage, these fuels were applied in modern large nuclear power plants, conferring on them:

• a greater reliability;
• a higher safety;
• a more flexible exploitation;
• a better economy;
• a decrease of the quantities of waste.

Training of power plant staff personnel

During the first years of exploitation, BR3 played a determining role in the training of exploitation personnel for power plants. Almost every director and member of the staff personnel of the power plants at CHOOZ-1 (for the Belgian personnel), DOEL and TIHANGE, spent several years at the BR3.

During these past years, since the operation of the large power plants, this role inevitably decreased and the main interest of the exploitation of the BR3 shifted from personnel training to fuel testing.

Nevertheless, BR3 continued to receive, for a one-week stay, new operation crews which were trained in view of the future start-ups of the Belgian commercial power plants. In 1982, this was the case for the crews from DOEL-3 and DOEL-4: these training periods were dedicated to exercises in the control room of the BR3 plant in order to put into practice theoretical education. The power plant was started up and stopped several times and classical exploitation incidents were provoked, analysed and repeated; this was only possible in a low power plant such as the BR3.

Still nowadays, this training is considered as a precious complement to the training on large power plant simulators.

The first operators of the French PWR programme were trained at Mol; already at that time, the Centre d'Etude de l'Energie Nucléaire - Studiecentrum voor Kernenergie had at its disposal a small simulator allowing the study of start-up and incident procedure.

Because of these training possibilities, BR3 remained a valuable trump in commercial negotiations between Belgium and foreign countries. In this context, BR3 received many foreign trainees for more or less longer stays.

Conclusions

As any other plant, BR3 has reached its technical end of life, namely the moment at which maintenance or renewal of its equipment will become prohibitive from the financial point of view.

It happened on June 30, at 24:00, due to the expiration of the operation license. On October 9, 1987, as it was ascertained that it was impossible to obtain, in a short delay, a prolongation of the operation license, the CENoSCK Board decided on the final shutdown of the plant.

The final stop of BR3 implied elimination of radioactivity, requiring then dismantling, for which various more or less rapid and more or less complete strategies are possible. For the Belgian, and probably for the "European nuclear community", this was also the opportunity to realize a very profitable demonstration experiment. It is so done actually by the BR3 team.

To conclude, homage should be paid to the promoters and signatories of the contract for the purchase of BR3 in January 1956, for the mass of knowledge and the tremendous experience and know-how acquired by a generation of engineers and technicians who have been able to transmit all this to their successors, for the benefit of the Belgian industry and of the whole of the nuclear community. When considering that all power plants of our nuclear park belong to the same PWR reactor system of Westinghouse, and that they will shortly provide 50 % of the Belgian electricity production, it may be said that the promoters of BR3, years ago, made a choice which was ahead of its time.

This sagacious choice allowed the Belgian industry to become competent in a new technique, which is essential to our national economy.

Further information

• Dismantling of Highly Radioactive Reactor Internals
• Dismantling of the Reactor Pressure Vessel
• Decontamination and Wastes
• BR3 Picture Gallery

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