Fugen Nuclear Power Plant

Fugen ふげん (Fugen) was a prototype Japanese nuclear test reactor. Fugen was a domestic Japanese design for a demonstration Advanced Thermal Reactor. It was a heavy water moderated, boiling light water cooled reactor.[1] The reactor was started in 1979 and shut down in 2003. As of 2018, it is undergoing decommissioning.[1] It is located in Myōjin-chō, in the city of Tsuruga, Fukui. The name "Fugen" is derived from Fugen Bosatsu (Samantabhadra), a Buddhist deity.

Fugen Nuclear Power Plant
The Fugen NPP in 1975, Image: Japan Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport
Country	Japan
Coordinates	35°45′16″N 136°00′59″E
Status	Decommissioned
Construction began	May 10, 1972 (1972-05-10)
Commission date	March 20, 1979 (1979-03-20)
Decommission date	March 29, 2003 (2003-03-29)
Operator(s)	Japan Atomic Energy Agency
Nuclear power station
Reactor type	HWLWR
Power generation
Units decommissioned	1 x 165 MW
Nameplate capacity	165 MW
Capacity factor	23.9%
Annual net output	345 GW·h
External links
Website	www.jnc.go.jp/zfugen
Commons	Related media on Commons

The Tsuruga NPP and Fugen NPP together in the same image

The reactor was the first in the world to use a full MOX fuel core. It had 772 assemblies, the most in the world. It has received the title of a historic landmark from the American Nuclear Society.

The design boils ordinary water like a boiling water reactor (BWR) but uses heavy water as a moderator as in a CANDU reactor. The electrical output was 165 MW and the thermal output was 557 MW.

• Core temperature: 300 °C
• Pellet centerline temperature: 2200 °C
• Fuel conversion time: 6 months

The plant is located on a site that covers 267,694 m² (66 acres); buildings occupy 7,762 m² (1.9 acres), and it has 46,488 m² of floor space. It employed 256 workers.[2]