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A GarrettCom Application Note
GarrettCom Ethernet switches at the core of a radioactive sodium reprocessing plant - 37512 GARRETTCOM ETHERNET SWITCHES AT THE CORE OF A RADIOACTIVESODIUM REPROCESSING PLANT
An Industrial Ethernet Application
The contract to construct the sodium reprocessing
reactor was awarded to Framatome AREVA NP –
an acknowledged leader in the design, construc-
tion and maintainance of nuclear power plants.
For the control and communication equipment
that the build required, which covered a complete
package of SCADA, PLCs and Ethernet network
equipment for a high level of automation,
Framatome turned to French industrial and utility
integrator Factory Systemes.The last few years has seen a dramatic increase inthe automation of electrical utilities, with the
result that the IEC 61850 standard was introduced.
The 61850 standard defines a common communi-
cations architecture for automation components.
This comprehensive standard was conceived to
enforce interoperability between a variety of IEDs. TECHNOLOGY TODAY THE CHALLENGE When construction of the Super Phénix fast-breederreactor began in 1977 in Creys Malville, France, it was
hailed by the French Government as “the new
Concorde”. The pioneering design was intended as a
prototype for future nuclear energy production, and
was touted as the near perfect way to generate electric
power. Unfortunately, almost from the moment of its
commissioning in 1984, it was beset by problems,
running only intermittently for the next 13 years. In
June 1997, the French National Assembly pulled the
plug on the project.This left France’s principal energy company, the EDF(Electricité de France), with a number of problems, not
least of which was the reprocessing of 5500 tonnes of
radioactive liquid sodium. After years of debates,
enquiries and proposals, it was finally agreed in April
2004 that, as part of the build out of the Super Phénix,
a new plant would be installed to drain the sodium
and a ‘reactor’ constructed at Creys Malville to trans-
form the sodium into caustic soda.
