Russia's BN-1200 technical design submitted for review
The technical specifications for the BN-1200 sodium-cooled fast neutron nuclear reactor to be built at the Beloyarsk site in central Russia, near Yekaterinburg, have been submitted for expert review.
Russia plans to start construction of three BN-1200 sodium-cooled fast neutron reactors before 2030.
Russian nuclear engineering company OKBM Afrikantov is developing the BN-1200 reactor as a next step towards future reactor designs, commonly known as Generation IV.
Design specifications have been developed for the BN-1200 project's primary side, which includes the nuclear reactor, and the secondary, non-nuclear side, which includes the turbine, OKBM Afrikantov said.
The main specifications for the construction, communications and main system processes have been completed, as well as an economic evaluation of the project, Alexey Vasyaev, head of the BN-1200 project at OKBM Afrikantov, said in the same statement.
The document will now be reviewed by a technical expert committee of the joint scientific and technical council of Rosatom and its nuclear operator subsidiary Rosenergoatom.
The technical design of the BN-1200 is expected to be completed this year or next following additional research and development work, OKBM Afrikantov said. The reactor will generate 1220 MWe and have a 60-year life.
Russia plans to start construction of three BN-1200 sodium-cooled fast neutron reactors before 2030, the director general of Rosenergoatom, Evgeny Romanov, said in July last year.
The BN-600 sodium-cooled fast reactor is already in commercial operation at Beloyarsk and BN-800 achieved first criticality in June 2014.
Michael Bakanov, director of the Beloyarsk plant, said last month that BN-800 at Beloyarsk unit 4 is already providing operating and technological experience of value to the development of the planned BN-1200 at Beloyarsk unit 5.
However, the BN-800 is yet to start commercial operation. That was scheduled for September last year, but has been postponed to the first quarter of 2015.
Pavel Ipatov, Rosenergoatom deputy director, told the TASS news agency last October that there has been a delay in the supply of valves for the turbine hall of the reactor.
The core of a fast reactor is much smaller than that of a normal nuclear reactor, and it has a higher power density, requiring very efficient heat transfer.
Researched and written
by World Nuclear News
