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The Beloyarsk Nuclear Power Station (NPS; russian: Белоярская атомная электростанция им. И. В. Курчатова []) was the third of the Soviet Union, Soviet Union's nuclear plants. It is situated by Zarechny, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Zarechny in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia. Zarechny township was created to service the station, which is named after the Beloyarsky District. The closest city is
Two earlier reactors were constructed at Beloyarsk: an AMB-100 reactor (operational 1964–1983) and an AMB-200 reactor (operational 1967–1989).
Both were
Yekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg ( ; rus, Екатеринбург, p=jɪkətʲɪrʲɪnˈburk), alternatively romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( rus, Свердло́вск, , svʲɪrˈdlofsk, 1924–1991), is a city and the administra ...
.
Early reactors
Two earlier reactors were constructed at Beloyarsk: an AMB-100 reactor (operational 1964–1983) and an AMB-200 reactor (operational 1967–1989).
Both were supercritical water reactor
The supercritical water reactor (SCWR) is a concept Generation IV reactor, designed as a light water reactor (LWR) that operates at supercritical pressure (i.e. greater than 22.1 MPa). The term ''critical'' in this context refers to the c ...
s; the first unit used 67 tons of uranium enriched to 1.8%, while the second unit used 50 tons of uranium enriched to 3.0%. The first unit had an indirect steam cycle, while the second had a direct one.
Although they were comparable in power to the Shippingport Atomic Power Station
The Shippingport Atomic Power Station was (according to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission) the world's first full-scale atomic electric power plant devoted exclusively to peacetime uses.Though Obninsk Nuclear Power Plant was connected to the M ...
, the Soviet planners regarded the Beloyarsk reactors as prototypes. Their main novelty was the use of superheated steam ran through a standard turbine thus resulting in a better efficiency compared to the earlier Obninsk Nuclear Power Plant
Obninsk Nuclear Power Plant (russian: Обнинская АЭС, Obninskaja AES; ) was built in the "Science City" of Obninsk, The second unit, which used two turbines, had a similar conversion efficiency of about 36%.
Two reactors are now in operation: a 
Construction started on the larger BN-800 fast breeder reactor in 1987. Protests halted progress in 1988, but work resumed in 1992 following an order by President
Beloyarsk NPP
INSP programme
Beloyarskaya NPP
official site
Beloyarskaya NPP
manufacturer information {{Nuclear power in Russia Nuclear power stations built in the Soviet Union Nuclear power stations in Russia Nuclear power stations with proposed reactors 1964 establishments in Russia Energy infrastructure completed in 1964
Later reactors
Two reactors are now in operation: a BN-600
The BN-600 reactor is a Liquid metal cooled reactor, sodium-cooled fast breeder reactor, built at the Beloyarsk Nuclear Power Station, in Zarechny, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia. Designed to generate electrical power of 600 Watt (unit), MW in t ...
fast breeder reactor
A breeder reactor is a nuclear reactor that generates more fissile material than it consumes. Breeder reactors achieve this because their neutron economy is high enough to create more fissile fuel than they use, by irradiation of a fertile mate ...
, generating 600 MWe
The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Watt ...
gross and a BN-800
The BN-800 reactor (Russian: реактор БН–800) is a sodium-cooled fast breeder reactor, built at the Beloyarsk Nuclear Power Station, in Zarechny, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia.
The reactor is designed to generate 880 MW of electrical pow ...
fast breeder reactor
A breeder reactor is a nuclear reactor that generates more fissile material than it consumes. Breeder reactors achieve this because their neutron economy is high enough to create more fissile fuel than they use, by irradiation of a fertile mate ...
, generating 885 MWe
The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Watt ...
gross. The BN-800 is the largest fast neutron power reactor in service in the world. Three turbines are connected to the BN-600 reactor. The BN-600 reactor core is tall and has a diameter of . It has 369 fuel
A fuel is any material that can be made to react with other substances so that it releases energy as thermal energy or to be used for work. The concept was originally applied solely to those materials capable of releasing chemical energy but ...
assemblies, each consisting of 127 fuel rods with an enrichment of 17–26% 235U. In comparison, typical enrichment in other Russian reactors is in the range of 3–4% 235U. BN-600 reactors use liquid sodium
Sodium is a chemical element with the symbol Na (from Latin ''natrium'') and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal. Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 of the periodic table. Its only stable iso ...
as a coolant. The station lacks a containment building
A containment building is a reinforced steel, concrete or lead structure enclosing a nuclear reactor. It is designed, in any emergency, to contain the escape of radioactive steam or gas to a maximum pressure in the range of . The containment i ...
.
Construction started on the larger BN-800 fast breeder reactor in 1987. Protests halted progress in 1988, but work resumed in 1992 following an order by President Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin ( rus, Борис Николаевич Ельцин, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn, a=Ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg; 1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician wh ...
. Financial difficulties resulted in slow progress. Construction costs have been estimated at 1 trillion rubles
The ruble (American English) or rouble (Commonwealth English) (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is the currency unit of Belarus and Russia. Historically, it was the currency of the Russian Empire and of the Soviet Union.
, currencies named ''rub ...
and the new reactor was expected to be finished in 2012–2015. The BN-600 was originally planned to be decommissioned in 2010 but its lifetime was expected to be extended to cover the gap; it has been operating since 1980.
On 27 June 2014, controlled nuclear fission started in the BN-800 fast breeder reactor. The newest reactor helps to close the nuclear fuel cycle and to achieve a fuel cycle without or with less nuclear waste. Russia was, at the date, the only country that operates fast neutron reactors for energy production. However issues detected during low power operation required further fuel development work. On 31 July 2015, the unit again achieved minimum controlled power again, at 0.13% of rated power. Commercial operations are expected to start before the end of 2016, now with a power rating of 789 MWe. In December 2015, Unit 4 was connected to the national grid.
See also
*Nuclear power in Russia
Russia is one of the world's largest producers of nuclear energy.
In 2020 total electricity generated in nuclear power plants in Russia was 215.746 TWh, 20.28% of all power generation.
The installed gross capacity of Russian nuclear reactors ...
References
Further reading
* For the design of the first two reactors.External links
Beloyarsk NPP
INSP programme
Beloyarskaya NPP
official site
Beloyarskaya NPP
manufacturer information {{Nuclear power in Russia Nuclear power stations built in the Soviet Union Nuclear power stations in Russia Nuclear power stations with proposed reactors 1964 establishments in Russia Energy infrastructure completed in 1964