Presents a survey of worldwide experience gained with fast breeder reactor design, development and operation. Coverage includes state of the art of liquid metal fast reactor development; lead-bismuth cooled (LBC) ship reactor operation experience and LBC fast power reactor development; and treatment and disposal of spent sodium.

"Based on a recommendation from the Technical Working Group on Fast Reactors, this publication is a regular update of previous publications on fast reactor technology. The publication provides comprehensive and detailed information on the technology of fast neutron reactors. The focus is on practical issues that are useful to engineers, scientists, managers, university students and professors. The main issues of discussion are experience in design, construction, operation and decommissioning, various areas of research and development, engineering, safety and national strategies, and public acceptance of fast reactors. In the summary the reader will find national strategies, international initiatives on innovative (i.e. Generation IV) systems and an assessment of public acceptance as related to fast reactors."--Résumé de l'éditeur.

Safety analysis reports on United States fast and liquid metal cooled reactors were reviewed to gain a better understanding of the safety philosophy applied to the design of these facilities. This information was compiled to help guide the design and safety analysis of the Fast Flux Test Facility. No attempt was made to draw conclusions concerning the relative merit of different approaches and philosophies used by different reactor design teams. The facilities reviewed were; Enrico Fermi Atomic Power Plant (FERMI) Hallam Nuclear Power Facility (HALLAM) Southwest Experimental Fast Oxide Reactor (SEFOR) Fast Reactor Test Facility (FARET) Experimental Breeder Reactor No. 1 (EBR-I) Experimental Breeder Reactor No. 2 (EBR-II) Fast Reactor Zero Power Experiment (ZPR - III). The information gathered from the safety analysis reports is tabulated under these headings: Control and Safety Systems; Reactor Protection Systems; Backup Systems; Containment or Confinement Systems; Inherent Reactivity Effects and Important Physics Parameters; Fuel and Fuel Handling; Accidents Considered and Chemical Problems; Site; Exhaust Ventilation System; and Waste Effluents.