Editing SPOILER: Hopewell Facility (section)

==History==

The [[construction]] of the '''FFTF''' was completed in [[1978]], and the first reaction took place in [[1980]].  From [[April]] [[1982]] to April [[1992]] it operated as a [[national]] [[research]] [[facility]] to test various aspects of commercial reactor design and operation, especially relating to [[breeder reactor]]s.  The FFTF is not a breeder reactor itself, but rather a sodium cooled [[Fast neutron reactor]], as the name suggests. 
It is stated on the site dedicated to the FFTF, that it tested "advanced [[Enriched uranium|nuclear fuels]], [[materials]], [[components]], nuclear power plant operations and [[maintenance]] [[protocols]], and reactor [[safety]] designs."
By [[1993]], the number of uses to which the reactor could be put was diminishing, so the decision was taken in [[December]] of that year to [[decommission]] it. Over the next 3 years, the active parts of the facility were gradually halted, [[Nuclear reactor#Types of reactors|fuel rods]] removed and stored in above-ground [[Dry cask storage|dry storage vessels]].
However, in [[January]] [[1997]], the DOE ordered that the reactor be maintained in a [[standby]] condition, pending a decision as to whether to incorporate it into the US Government's [[tritium]] production programme, for both [[medical]] and [[Fusion power|fusion]] research.
Since then, due to legal wrangling, decommissioning has been stopped and restarted at intervals. In [[December]] [[2001]], the [[deactivation]] was continued, after the DOE found that it was not needed for tritium production. Work was halted in [[2002]] when court action was begun. As of [[May]] [[2003]], deactivation has continued uninterrupted, and it is currently in a state of ''cold standby''.