Beloyarsk BN-600 fast neutron reactor gets 15-year extension
Russian nuclear regulator Rostekhnadzor has approved a 15-year life extension to 2040 for the Beloyarsk nuclear power plant's unit 3, a BN-600 fast neutron reactor.
It follows a comprehensive assessment of the condition of the unit - including the reactor vessel and internal elements and heat exchanger supports - which concluded that the "equipment fully complies with all modern safety standards". The extension to 2040 will take it to 60 years of operation.
A large-scale modernisation programme began in 2009 which included the installation of a second reactor emergency protection system, an emergency dampening system using an air heat exchanger and a back-up reactor control panel. That allowed an extension for 10 and then a further five years to 2025. Further work has been carried out, including the replacement of steam generators and circulating pumps of the first reactor circuit as part of the further 15-year extension process.
Ivan Sidorov, director of Beloyarsk NPP, said: "Power unit 3 of the Beloyarsk NPP is a key link for the future of nuclear energy. It was here that the first assemblies based on used nuclear fuel - MOX fuel - were industrially tested, and now new assemblies are in the active zone to confirm the high quality of fuel and materials for future fourth-generation power units BN-1200M and BREST. Even more important is the invaluable knowledge of our personnel, obtained as a result of the reliable operation of fast neutron reactors."
The nuclear power plant operates units with fast neutron reactors with sodium coolants - the BN-600, connected to the grid in 1980, and BN-800, connected to the grid in 2015, are the world's largest such power units. The life extension will mean the unit can generate an extra 60 billion kWh of electricity.
The sodium-cooled BN-series fast reactors are part of Rosatom's Proryv, or 'Breakthrough', project to develop fast reactors with a closed fuel cycle whose mixed oxide (MOX) fuel will be reprocessed and recycled. As well as its generating capacity unit 3 is seen as strategically important in terms of testing technical solutions for future fast reactors such as the BREST-OD-300 fast reactor with lead coolant and the BN-1200 planned for Beloyarsk.
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