Dragon reactor

Dragon was a high temperature gas cooled reactor at Winfrith in Dorset, England, operated by UKAEA. Its purpose was to test fuel and materials for the European high temperature reactor programme, and was built and managed as an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development/Nuclear Energy Agency international project. Dragon used helium gas as coolant and coated particle fuel.[1]

The Dragon complex consists of the reactor and various buildings constructed in the late 1950s/early 1960s to support operations. The reactor is now in care and maintenance. Construction started in 1959 and was completed in 1962. Operation started in 1965 with a power output of 20MW. The reactor operated until 1976 and was partially decommissioned in 2005.[2]

References

  1. Rainer Simon, The Primary Circuit of the Dragon High Temperature Reactor Experiment, 18th International Conference on Structural Mechanics in Reactor Technology, August 2005
  2. http://www.nda.gov.uk/stakeholders/newsletter/winfrith-dragon.cfm?renderforprint=1&

Coordinates: 50°41′02″N 2°16′10″W / 50.6840°N 2.2694°W