Nuclear power plant (NPP)

a power plant in which atomic (nuclear) energy is converted into electrical energy. The energy generator at a nuclear power plant is a nuclear reactor (see Nuclear reactor). The heat that is released in the reactor as a result of a chain reaction of fission of the nuclei of some heavy elements is then converted into electricity in the same way as in conventional thermal power plants (See Thermal power plant) (TPP). Unlike thermal power plants operating on fossil fuels, nuclear power plants operate on nuclear fuel (See Nuclear fuel) (mainly 233 U, 235 U. 239 Pu). When dividing 1 G uranium or plutonium isotopes released 22,500 kW h, which is equivalent to the energy contained in 2800 kg standard fuel. It has been established that the world's energy resources of nuclear fuel (uranium, plutonium, etc.) significantly exceed the energy resources of natural reserves of organic fuel (oil, coal, natural gas, etc.). This opens up broad prospects for meeting rapidly growing fuel demands. In addition, it is necessary to take into account the ever-increasing volume of coal and oil consumption for technological purposes in the global chemical industry, which is becoming a serious competitor to thermal power plants. Despite the discovery of new deposits of organic fuel and the improvement of methods for its production, there is a tendency in the world towards an increase in its cost. This creates the most difficult conditions for countries with limited reserves of fossil fuels. There is an obvious need for the rapid development of nuclear energy, which already occupies a prominent place in the energy balance of a number of industrial countries around the world.

The world's first nuclear power plant for pilot industrial purposes ( rice. 1 ) power 5 MW was launched into the USSR on June 27, 1954 in Obninsk. Before this, the energy of the atomic nucleus was used primarily for military purposes. The launch of the first nuclear power plant marked the opening of a new direction in energy, which received recognition at the 1st International Scientific and Technical Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy (August 1955, Geneva).

In 1958, the 1st stage of the Siberian Nuclear Power Plant with a capacity of 100 MW(total design capacity 600 MW). In the same year, the construction of the Beloyarsk industrial nuclear power plant began, and on April 26, 1964, the generator of the 1st stage (unit with a capacity of 100 MW) supplied current to the Sverdlovsk energy system, 2nd unit with a capacity of 200 MW put into operation in October 1967. A distinctive feature of the Beloyarsk NPP is the overheating of steam (until the required parameters are obtained) directly in the nuclear reactor, which made it possible to use conventional modern turbines on it almost without any modifications.

In September 1964, the 1st unit of the Novovoronezh NPP with a capacity of 210 MW Cost 1 kWh electricity (the most important economic indicator of the operation of any power plant) at this nuclear power plant systematically decreased: it amounted to 1.24 kopecks. in 1965, 1.22 kopecks. in 1966, 1.18 kopecks. in 1967, 0.94 kopecks. in 1968. The first unit of the Novovoronezh NPP was built not only for industrial use, but also as a demonstration facility to demonstrate the capabilities and advantages of nuclear energy, the reliability and safety of nuclear power plants. In November 1965, in the city of Melekess, Ulyanovsk region, a nuclear power plant with a water-cooled reactor came into operation (See Water-cooled reactor) "boiling" type with a capacity of 50 MW, The reactor is assembled according to a single-circuit design, which facilitates the layout of the station. In December 1969, the second unit of the Novovoronezh NPP was launched (350 MW).

Abroad, the first nuclear power plant for industrial purposes with a capacity of 46 MW was put into operation in 1956 at Calder Hall (England). A year later, a nuclear power plant with a capacity of 60 MW in Shippingport (USA).

A schematic diagram of a nuclear power plant with a water-cooled nuclear reactor is shown in rice. 2 . The heat released in the core (See Core) of reactor 1 is taken away by water (coolant (See Coolant)) of the 1st circuit, which is pumped through the reactor by a circulation pump 2. Heated water from the reactor enters the heat exchanger (steam generator) 3, where it transfers the heat obtained in the reactor to the water of the 2nd circuit. The water of the 2nd circuit evaporates in the steam generator, and the resulting steam enters the turbine 4.

Most often, 4 types of thermal neutron reactors are used at nuclear power plants: 1) water-water reactors with ordinary water as a moderator and coolant; 2) graphite-water with water coolant and graphite moderator; 3) heavy water with water coolant and heavy water as a moderator; 4) graphite-gas with gas coolant and graphite moderator.

The choice of the predominantly used type of reactor is determined mainly by the accumulated experience in reactor construction, as well as the availability of the necessary industrial equipment, raw material reserves, etc. In the USSR, mainly graphite-water and water-cooled reactors are built. At US nuclear power plants, pressurized water reactors are the most widely used. Graphite gas reactors are used in England. Canada's nuclear power industry is dominated by nuclear power plants with heavy water reactors.

Depending on the type and aggregate state of the coolant, one or another thermodynamic cycle of the nuclear power plant is created. The choice of the upper temperature limit of the thermodynamic cycle is determined by the maximum permissible temperature of the shells of fuel elements containing nuclear fuel, the permissible temperature of the nuclear fuel itself, as well as the properties of the coolant adopted for a given type of reactor. At nuclear power plants, the thermal reactor of which is cooled by water, low-temperature steam cycles are usually used. Gas-cooled reactors allow the use of relatively more economical steam cycles with increased initial pressure and temperature. The thermal circuit of the nuclear power plant in these two cases is 2-circuit: the coolant circulates in the 1st circuit, and the steam-water circuit circulates in the 2nd circuit. With reactors with boiling water or high-temperature gas coolant, a single-circuit thermal nuclear power plant is possible. In boiling water reactors, water boils in the core, the resulting steam-water mixture is separated, and the saturated steam is sent either directly to the turbine, or is first returned to the core for overheating ( rice. 3 ). In high-temperature graphite-gas reactors, it is possible to use a conventional gas turbine cycle. The reactor in this case acts as a combustion chamber.

During reactor operation, the concentration of fissile isotopes in nuclear fuel gradually decreases, i.e., fuel rods burn out. Therefore, over time they are replaced with fresh ones. Nuclear fuel is reloaded using remote-controlled mechanisms and devices. Spent fuel rods are transferred to a spent fuel pool and then sent for recycling.

The reactor and its servicing systems include: the reactor itself with biological protection (See Biological protection), a heat exchanger, and pumps or gas-blowing units that circulate the coolant; pipelines and fittings of the circulation circuit; devices for reloading nuclear fuel; special systems ventilation, emergency cooling, etc.

Depending on the design, reactors have distinctive features: in vessel reactors (See Pressure Reactor), the fuel rods and moderator are located inside the vessel, which carries the full pressure of the coolant; in channel reactors (See Channel reactor) fuel rods, cooled by a coolant, are installed in special channel pipes that penetrate the moderator, enclosed in a thin-walled casing. Such reactors are used in the USSR (Siberian, Beloyarsk nuclear power plants, etc.).

To protect nuclear power plant personnel from radiation exposure, the reactor is surrounded by biological shielding, the main materials for which are concrete, water, and serpentine sand. The reactor circuit equipment must be completely sealed. A system is provided to monitor places of possible coolant leaks; measures are taken to ensure that the occurrence of leaks and breaks in the circuit does not lead to radioactive emissions and contamination of the nuclear power plant premises and the surrounding area. Reactor circuit equipment is usually installed in sealed boxes, which are separated from the rest of the NPP premises by biological protection and are not maintained during reactor operation. Radioactive air and a small amount of coolant vapor, due to the presence of leaks from the circuit, are removed from unattended rooms of the nuclear power plant by a special ventilation system, in which cleaning filters and holding gas tanks are provided to eliminate the possibility of air pollution. The compliance with radiation safety rules by NPP personnel is monitored by the dosimetry control service.

In case of accidents in the reactor cooling system, to prevent overheating and failure of the seals of the fuel rod shells, rapid (within a few seconds) suppression of the nuclear reaction is provided; The emergency cooling system has autonomous power sources.

The presence of biological protection, special ventilation and emergency cooling systems and a radiation monitoring service makes it possible to completely protect NPP operating personnel from the harmful effects of radioactive radiation.

The equipment of the turbine room of a nuclear power plant is similar to the equipment of the turbine room of a thermal power plant. A distinctive feature of most nuclear power plants is the use of steam of relatively low parameters, saturated or slightly superheated.

In this case, to prevent erosion damage to the blades of the last stages of the turbine by moisture particles contained in the steam, separating devices are installed in the turbine. Sometimes it is necessary to use remote separators and intermediate steam superheaters. Due to the fact that the coolant and the impurities it contains are activated when passing through the reactor core, the design solution of the turbine room equipment and the turbine condenser cooling system of single-circuit nuclear power plants must completely eliminate the possibility of coolant leakage. At double-circuit nuclear power plants with high steam parameters, such requirements are not imposed on the equipment of the turbine room.

Specific requirements for the layout of nuclear power plant equipment include: the minimum possible length of communications associated with radioactive media, increased rigidity of the foundations and load-bearing structures of the reactor, reliable organization of ventilation of the premises. On rice. shows a section of the main building of the Beloyarsk NPP with a channel graphite-water reactor. The reactor hall houses a reactor with biological protection, spare fuel rods and control equipment. The nuclear power plant is configured according to the reactor-turbine block principle. Turbine generators and their servicing systems are located in the turbine room. Between the engine and reactor rooms, auxiliary equipment and plant control systems are located.

The efficiency of a nuclear power plant is determined by its main technical indicators: unit power of the reactor, efficiency, energy intensity of the core, burnup of nuclear fuel, utilization rate of the installed capacity of the nuclear power plant per year. With the growth of nuclear power plant capacity, specific capital investments in it (cost of installed kW) decrease more sharply than is the case for thermal power plants. This is the main reason for the desire to build large nuclear power plants with large unit power units. It is typical for the economics of nuclear power plants that the share of the fuel component in the cost of generated electricity is 30-40% (at thermal power plants 60-70%). Therefore, large nuclear power plants are most common in industrialized areas with limited supplies of conventional fuel, and small-capacity nuclear power plants are most common in hard-to-reach or remote areas, for example, nuclear power plants in the village. Bilibino (Yakut Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic) with electric power of a standard unit 12 MW Part of the thermal power of the reactor of this nuclear power plant (29 MW) is spent on heat supply. In addition to generating electricity, nuclear power plants are also used to desalinate seawater. Thus, the Shevchenko NPP (Kazakh SSR) with an electrical capacity of 150 MW designed for desalination (by distillation method) per day up to 150,000 T water from the Caspian Sea.

In most industrialized countries (USSR, USA, England, France, Canada, Germany, Japan, East Germany, etc.), according to forecasts, the capacity of existing and under construction nuclear power plants will be increased to dozens by 1980 Gvt. According to the UN International Atomic Agency, published in 1967, the installed capacity of all nuclear power plants in the world will reach 300 by 1980. Gvt.

The Soviet Union is implementing an extensive program of commissioning large energy units (up to 1000 MW) with thermal neutron reactors. In 1948-49, work began on fast neutron reactors for industrial nuclear power plants. The physical features of such reactors allow for expanded reproduction of nuclear fuel (reproduction factor from 1.3 to 1.7), which makes it possible to use not only 235 U, but also raw materials 238 U and 232 Th. In addition, fast neutron reactors do not contain a moderator, are relatively small in size and have a large load. This explains the desire for intensive development of fast reactors in the USSR. For research on fast reactors, experimental and pilot reactors BR-1, BR-2, BR-Z, BR-5, and BFS were successively built. The experience gained led to the transition from research on model plants to the design and construction of industrial fast neutron nuclear power plants (BN-350) in Shevchenko and (BN-600) at the Beloyarsk NPP. Research is underway on reactors for powerful nuclear power plants, for example, a pilot reactor BOR-60 was built in Melekess.

Large nuclear power plants are also being built in a number of developing countries (India, Pakistan, etc.).

At the 3rd International Scientific and Technical Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy (1964, Geneva), it was noted that the widespread development of nuclear energy has become a key problem for most countries. The 7th World Energy Conference (WIREC-VII), held in Moscow in August 1968, confirmed the relevance of the problems of choosing the direction of development of nuclear energy at the next stage (conditionally 1980-2000), when nuclear power plants will become one of the main producers of electricity.

Lit.: Some issues of nuclear energy. Sat. Art., ed. M. A. Styrikovich, M., 1959; Kanaev A. A., Nuclear power plants, Leningrad, 1961; Kalafati D.D., Thermodynamic cycles of nuclear power plants, M.-L., 1963; 10 years of the world's first nuclear power plant of the USSR. [Sat. Art.], M., 1964; Soviet atomic science and technology. [Collection], M., 1967; Petrosyants A.M., Atomic energy of our days, M., 1968.

S. P. Kuznetsov.

Great Soviet Encyclopedia. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1969-1978 .

See what “Nuclear power plant” is in other dictionaries:

A power plant in which atomic (nuclear) energy is converted into electrical energy. The energy generator at a nuclear power plant is a nuclear reactor. Synonyms: Nuclear power plant See also: Nuclear power plants Power plants Nuclear reactors Financial dictionary... ... Financial Dictionary

- (NPP) power plant where nuclear (nuclear) energy is converted into electrical energy. At a nuclear power plant, the heat released in a nuclear reactor is used to produce water steam that rotates a turbine generator. The first nuclear power plant in the world with a capacity of 5 MW was... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

A nuclear power plant, or NPP for short, is a complex of technical structures designed to generate electrical energy by using the energy released during a controlled nuclear reaction.

In the second half of the 40s, before work was completed on creating the first atomic bomb, which was tested on August 29, 1949, Soviet scientists began developing the first projects for the peaceful use of atomic energy. The main focus of the projects was electricity.

In May 1950, near the village of Obninskoye, Kaluga Region, construction began on the world's first nuclear power plant.

Electricity was first produced using a nuclear reactor on December 20, 1951 in the state of Idaho in the USA.

To test its functionality, the generator was connected to four incandescent lamps, but I did not expect the lamps to light up.

From that moment on, humanity began to use the energy of a nuclear reactor to produce electricity.

First Nuclear Power Plants

The construction of the world's first nuclear power plant with a capacity of 5 MW was completed in 1954 and on June 27, 1954 it was launched and began to work.

In 1958, the 1st stage of the Siberian Nuclear Power Plant with a capacity of 100 MW was put into operation.

Construction of the Beloyarsk industrial nuclear power plant also began in 1958. On April 26, 1964, the 1st stage generator supplied current to consumers.

In September 1964, the 1st unit of the Novovoronezh NPP with a capacity of 210 MW was launched. The second unit with a capacity of 350 MW was launched in December 1969.

In 1973, the Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant was launched.

In other countries, the first industrial nuclear power plant was commissioned in 1956 at Calder Hall (Great Britain) with a capacity of 46 MW.

In 1957, a 60 MW nuclear power plant came into operation in Shippingport (USA).

The world leaders in nuclear power production are:

1. USA (788.6 billion kWh/year),
2. France (426.8 billion kWh/year),
3. Japan (273.8 billion kWh/year),
4. Germany (158.4 billion kWh/year),
5. Russia (154.7 billion kWh/year).

NPP classification

Nuclear power plants can be classified in several ways:

By reactor type

• Thermal neutron reactors that use special moderators to increase the likelihood of neutron absorption by the nuclei of fuel atoms
• Light water reactors
• Heavy water reactors
• Fast reactors
• Subcritical reactors using external neutron sources
• Fusion reactors

By type of energy released

1. Nuclear power plants (NPPs) designed to generate only electricity
2. Nuclear combined heat and power plants (CHPs), generating both electricity and thermal energy

At nuclear power plants located in Russia there are heating installations; they are necessary for heating network water.

Types of fuel used at Nuclear Power Plants

At nuclear power plants, it is possible to use several substances, thanks to which it is possible to generate nuclear electricity; modern nuclear power plant fuels are uranium, thorium and plutonium.

Thorium fuel is not used in nuclear power plants today, for a number of reasons.

Firstly, it is more difficult to convert into fuel elements, abbreviated fuel elements.

Fuel rods are metal tubes that are placed inside a nuclear reactor. Inside

Fuel elements contain radioactive substances. These tubes are nuclear fuel storage facilities.

Secondly, the use of thorium fuel requires its complex and expensive processing after use at nuclear power plants.

Plutonium fuel is also not used in nuclear power engineering, due to the fact that this substance has a very complex chemical composition, a system for full and safe use has not yet been developed.

Uranium fuel

The main substance that produces energy at nuclear power plants is uranium. Today, uranium is mined in several ways:

• open pit mining
• locked in mines
• underground leaching, using mine drilling.

Underground leaching, using mine drilling, occurs by placing a sulfuric acid solution in underground wells, the solution is saturated with uranium and pumped back out.

The largest uranium reserves in the world are located in Australia, Kazakhstan, Russia and Canada.

The richest deposits are in Canada, Zaire, France and the Czech Republic. In these countries, up to 22 kilograms of uranium raw material are obtained from a ton of ore.

In Russia, a little more than one and a half kilograms of uranium is obtained from one ton of ore. Uranium mining sites are non-radioactive.

In its pure form, this substance is of little danger to humans; a much greater danger is the radioactive colorless gas radon, which is formed during the natural decay of uranium.

Uranium preparation

Uranium is not used in the form of ore in nuclear power plants; the ore does not react. To use uranium at nuclear power plants, the raw material is processed into powder - uranium oxide, and after that it becomes uranium fuel.

Uranium powder is turned into metal “tablets” - it is pressed into small neat flasks, which are fired during the day at temperatures above 1500 degrees Celsius.

It is these uranium pellets that enter nuclear reactors, where they begin to interact with each other and, ultimately, provide people with electricity.

About 10 million uranium pellets are working simultaneously in one nuclear reactor.

Before placing uranium pellets in the reactor, they are placed in metal tubes made of zirconium alloys - fuel elements; the tubes are connected to each other into bundles and form fuel assemblies - fuel assemblies.

It is the fuel assemblies that are called nuclear power plant fuel.

How does nuclear power plant fuel reprocess?

After a year of using uranium in nuclear reactors, it must be replaced.

Fuel elements are cooled for several years and sent for chopping and dissolution.

As a result of chemical extraction, uranium and plutonium are released, which are reused and used to make fresh nuclear fuel.

The decay products of uranium and plutonium are used to manufacture sources of ionizing radiation; they are used in medicine and industry.

Everything that remains after these manipulations is sent to the furnace for heating, glass is made from this mass, such glass is stored in special storage facilities.

Glass is not made from the residues for mass use; glass is used to store radioactive substances.

It is difficult to extract from glass the remains of radioactive elements that can harm the environment. Recently, a new way to dispose of radioactive waste has emerged.

Fast nuclear reactors or fast neutron reactors, which operate on reprocessed nuclear fuel residues.

According to scientists, the remains of nuclear fuel, which are currently stored in storage facilities, are capable of providing fuel for fast neutron reactors for 200 years.

In addition, new fast reactors can operate on uranium fuel, which is made from uranium 238; this substance is not used in conventional nuclear power plants, because It is easier for today’s nuclear power plants to process 235 and 233 uranium, of which there is little left in nature.

Thus, new reactors are an opportunity to use huge deposits of 238 uranium, which have not been used before.

Operating principle of nuclear power plants

The operating principle of a nuclear power plant based on a double-circuit pressurized water reactor (VVER).

The energy released in the reactor core is transferred to the primary coolant.

At the exit of the turbines, the steam enters the condenser, where it is cooled by a large amount of water coming from the reservoir.

The pressure compensator is a rather complex and cumbersome structure that serves to equalize pressure fluctuations in the circuit during reactor operation that arise due to thermal expansion of the coolant. The pressure in the 1st circuit can reach up to 160 atmospheres (VVER-1000).

In addition to water, molten sodium or gas can also be used as a coolant in various reactors.

The use of sodium makes it possible to simplify the design of the reactor core shell (unlike the water circuit, the pressure in the sodium circuit does not exceed atmospheric pressure), and to get rid of the pressure compensator, but it creates its own difficulties associated with the increased chemical activity of this metal.

The total number of circuits may vary for different reactors, the diagram in the figure is shown for reactors of the VVER type (Water-Water Energy Reactor).

Reactors of the RBMK type (High Power Channel Type Reactor) use one water circuit, and BN reactors (Fast Neutron Reactor) use two sodium and one water circuits.

If it is not possible to use a large amount of water for steam condensation, instead of using a reservoir, the water can be cooled in special cooling towers, which due to their size are usually the most visible part of a nuclear power plant.

Nuclear reactor structure

A nuclear reactor uses a nuclear fission process in which a heavy nucleus breaks into two smaller fragments.

These fragments are in a highly excited state and emit neutrons, other subatomic particles and photons.

Neutrons can cause new fissions, resulting in more of them being emitted, and so on.

Such a continuous self-sustaining series of splittings is called a chain reaction.

This releases a large amount of energy, the production of which is the purpose of using nuclear power plants.

The operating principle of a nuclear reactor and nuclear power plant is such that about 85% of the fission energy is released within a very short period of time after the start of the reaction.

The rest is produced by the radioactive decay of fission products after they have emitted neutrons.

Radioactive decay is a process in which an atom reaches a more stable state. It continues after division is completed.

Basic elements of a nuclear reactor

• Nuclear fuel: enriched uranium, isotopes of uranium and plutonium. The most commonly used is uranium 235;
• Coolant for removing the energy generated during reactor operation: water, liquid sodium, etc.;
• Control rods;
• Neutron moderator;
• Radiation protection sheath.

Operating principle of a nuclear reactor

In the reactor core there are fuel elements (fuel elements) - nuclear fuel.

They are assembled into cassettes containing several dozen fuel rods. The coolant flows through the channels through each cassette.

Fuel rods regulate the power of the reactor. A nuclear reaction is possible only at a certain (critical) mass of the fuel rod.

The mass of each rod individually is below critical. The reaction begins when all the rods are in the active zone. By inserting and removing fuel rods, the reaction can be controlled.

So, when the critical mass is exceeded, radioactive fuel elements emit neutrons that collide with atoms.

As a result, an unstable isotope is formed, which immediately decays, releasing energy in the form of gamma radiation and heat.

Particles colliding impart kinetic energy to each other, and the number of decays increases exponentially.

This is a chain reaction - the principle of operation of a nuclear reactor. Without control, it occurs at lightning speed, which leads to an explosion. But in a nuclear reactor the process is under control.

Thus, thermal energy is released in the core, which is transferred to the water washing this zone (primary circuit).

Here the water temperature is 250-300 degrees. Next, the water transfers heat to the second circuit, and then to the turbine blades that generate energy.

The conversion of nuclear energy into electrical energy can be represented schematically:

• Internal energy of a uranium nucleus
• Kinetic energy of fragments of decayed nuclei and released neutrons
• Internal energy of water and steam
• Kinetic energy of water and steam
• Kinetic energy of turbine and generator rotors
• Electric Energy

The reactor core consists of hundreds of cassettes united by a metal shell. This shell also plays the role of a neutron reflector.

Control rods for adjusting the reaction speed and reactor emergency protection rods are inserted among the cassettes.

Nuclear heat supply station

The first projects of such stations were developed back in the 70s of the 20th century, but due to the economic upheavals that occurred in the late 80s and severe public opposition, none of them were fully implemented.

The exception is the Bilibino nuclear power plant of small capacity; it supplies heat and electricity to the village of Bilibino in the Arctic (10 thousand inhabitants) and local mining enterprises, as well as defense reactors (they produce plutonium):

• Siberian nuclear power plant, supplying heat to Seversk and Tomsk.
• The ADE-2 reactor at the Krasnoyarsk Mining and Chemical Combine, which has been supplying thermal and electrical energy to the city of Zheleznogorsk since 1964.

At the time of the crisis, the construction of several ASTs based on reactors similar to VVER-1000 had begun:

• Voronezh AST
• Gorky AST
• Ivanovo AST (only planned)

Construction of these ASTs was stopped in the second half of the 1980s or early 1990s.

In 2006, the Rosenergoatom concern planned to build a floating nuclear power plant for Arkhangelsk, Pevek and other polar cities based on the KLT-40 reactor plant, used on nuclear icebreakers.

There is a project for the construction of an unattended nuclear power plant based on the Elena reactor, and a mobile (by rail) Angstrem reactor plant.

Disadvantages and advantages of nuclear power plants

Any engineering project has its positive and negative sides.

Positive aspects of nuclear power plants:

• No harmful emissions;
• Emissions of radioactive substances are several times less than coal electricity. stations of similar power (coal ash thermal power plants contain a percentage of uranium and thorium sufficient for their profitable extraction);
• Small volume of fuel used and the possibility of its reuse after processing;
• High power: 1000-1600 MW per power unit;
• Low cost of energy, especially thermal energy.

Negative aspects of nuclear power plants:

• Irradiated fuel is dangerous and requires complex and expensive reprocessing and storage measures;
• Variable power operation is not desirable for thermal neutron reactors;
• The consequences of a possible incident are extremely severe, although its probability is quite low;
• Large capital investments, both specific, per 1 MW of installed capacity for units with a capacity of less than 700-800 MW, and general, necessary for the construction of the station, its infrastructure, as well as in the event of possible liquidation.

Scientific developments in the field of nuclear energy

Of course, there are shortcomings and concerns, but nuclear energy seems to be the most promising.

Alternative methods of obtaining energy, due to the energy of tides, wind, sun, geothermal sources, etc., currently do not have a high level of energy received, and its low concentration.

The necessary types of energy production have individual risks for the environment and tourism, for example, the production of photovoltaic cells, which pollutes the environment, the danger of wind farms for birds, and changes in wave dynamics.

Scientists are developing international projects for new generation nuclear reactors, for example GT-MGR, which will improve safety and increase the efficiency of nuclear power plants.

Russia has begun construction of the world's first floating nuclear power plant, which helps solve the problem of energy shortages in remote coastal areas of the country.

The USA and Japan are developing mini-nuclear power plants with a capacity of about 10-20 MW for the purpose of heat and power supply to individual industries, residential complexes, and in the future - individual houses.

A decrease in plant capacity implies an increase in production scale. Small-sized reactors are created using safe technologies that greatly reduce the possibility of nuclear leakage.

Hydrogen production

The US government has adopted the Atomic Hydrogen Initiative. Together with South Korea, work is underway to create a new generation of nuclear reactors capable of producing large quantities of hydrogen.

INEEL (Idaho National Engineering Environmental Laboratory) predicts that one unit of the next generation nuclear power plant will produce hydrogen equivalent to 750,000 liters of gasoline daily.

Research into the feasibility of producing hydrogen at existing nuclear power plants is being funded.

Fusion energy

An even more interesting, although relatively distant, prospect is the use of nuclear fusion energy.

Thermonuclear reactors, according to calculations, will consume less fuel per unit of energy, and both this fuel itself (deuterium, lithium, helium-3) and the products of their synthesis are non-radioactive and, therefore, environmentally safe.

Currently, with the participation of Russia, the construction of the international experimental thermonuclear reactor ITER is underway in the south of France.

What is efficiency

Efficiency factor (COP) is a characteristic of the efficiency of a system or device in relation to the conversion or transmission of energy.

It is determined by the ratio of usefully used energy to the total amount of energy received by the system. Efficiency is a dimensionless quantity and is often measured as a percentage.

Nuclear power plant efficiency

The highest efficiency (92-95%) is the advantage of hydroelectric power plants. They generate 14% of the world's electrical power.

However, this type of station is the most demanding regarding the construction site and, as practice has shown, is very sensitive to compliance with operating rules.

The example of the events at the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP showed what tragic consequences can result from neglecting operating rules in an effort to reduce operating costs.

Nuclear power plants have high efficiency (80%). Their share in global electricity production is 22%.

But nuclear power plants require increased attention to the safety issue, both at the design stage, during construction, and during operation.

The slightest deviation from strict safety regulations for nuclear power plants is fraught with fatal consequences for all humanity.

In addition to the immediate danger in the event of an accident, the use of nuclear power plants is accompanied by safety problems associated with the disposal or disposal of spent nuclear fuel.

The efficiency of thermal power plants does not exceed 34%; they generate up to sixty percent of the world's electricity.

In addition to electricity, thermal power plants produce thermal energy, which in the form of hot steam or hot water can be transmitted to consumers over a distance of 20-25 kilometers. Such stations are called CHP (Heat Electric Central).

TPPs and combined heat and power plants are not expensive to build, but unless special measures are taken, they have an adverse impact on the environment.

The adverse impact on the environment depends on what fuel is used in thermal units.

The most harmful products are the combustion of coal and heavy oil products; natural gas is less aggressive.

Thermal power plants are the main sources of electricity in Russia, the USA and most European countries.

However, there are exceptions, for example, in Norway, electricity is generated mainly by hydroelectric power plants, and in France, 70% of electricity is generated by nuclear power plants.

The first power plant in the world

The very first central power plant, the Pearl Street, was commissioned on September 4, 1882 in New York City.

The station was built with the support of the Edison Illuminating Company, which was headed by Thomas Edison.

Several Edison generators with a total capacity of over 500 kW were installed on it.

The station supplied electricity to an entire area of ​​New York with an area of ​​about 2.5 square kilometers.

The station burned to the ground in 1890; only one dynamo survived, which is now in the Greenfield Village Museum, Michigan.

On September 30, 1882, the first hydroelectric power plant, the Vulcan Street in Wisconsin, began operation. The author of the project was G.D. Rogers, head of the Appleton Paper & Pulp Company.

A generator with a power of approximately 12.5 kW was installed at the station. There was enough electricity to power Rogers' home and his two paper mills.

Gloucester Road Power Station. Brighton was one of the first cities in Britain to have an uninterrupted power supply.

In 1882, Robert Hammond founded the Hammond Electric Light Company, and on 27 February 1882 he opened the Gloucester Road Power Station.

The station consisted of a brush dynamo, which was used to drive sixteen arc lamps.

In 1885, Gloucester Power Station was purchased by the Brighton Electric Light Company. Later, a new station was built on this territory, consisting of three brush dynamos with 40 lamps.

Winter Palace Power Plant

In 1886, a power station was built in one of the courtyards of the New Hermitage.

The power plant was the largest in all of Europe, not only at the time of construction, but also over the next 15 years.

Previously, candles were used to illuminate the Winter Palace; in 1861, gas lamps began to be used. Since electric lamps had a greater advantage, developments began to introduce electric lighting.

Before the building was completely converted to electricity, lamps were used to illuminate the palace halls during the Christmas and New Year holidays in 1885.

On November 9, 1885, the project to build an “electricity factory” was approved by Emperor Alexander III. The project included the electrification of the Winter Palace, the Hermitage buildings, the courtyard and the surrounding area over three years until 1888.

There was a need to eliminate the possibility of vibration of the building from the operation of steam engines; the power plant was located in a separate pavilion made of glass and metal. It was placed in the second courtyard of the Hermitage, since then called “Electric”.

What the station looked like

The station building occupied an area of ​​630 m² and consisted of an engine room with 6 boilers, 4 steam engines and 2 locomotives and a room with 36 electric dynamos. The total power reached 445 hp.

Part of the front rooms were the first to be illuminated:

• Antechamber
• Petrovsky Hall
• Great Field Marshal's Hall
• Armorial Hall
• St. George's Hall

Three lighting modes were offered:

• full (holiday) turn on five times a year (4888 incandescent lamps and 10 Yablochkov candles);
• working – 230 incandescent lamps;
• duty (night) - 304 incandescent lamps.
  The station consumed about 30 thousand poods (520 tons) of coal per year.

Large thermal power plants, nuclear power plants and hydroelectric power stations in Russia

The largest power plants in Russia by federal district:

Central:

• Kostroma State District Power Plant, which runs on fuel oil;
• Ryazan station, the main fuel for which is coal;
• Konakovskaya, which can run on gas and fuel oil;

Ural:

• Surgutskaya 1 and Surgutskaya 2. Stations, which are one of the largest power plants in the Russian Federation. They both run on natural gas;
• Reftinskaya, operating on coal and being one of the largest power plants in the Urals;
• Troitskaya, also coal-fired;
• Iriklinskaya, the main source of fuel for which is fuel oil;

Privolzhsky:

• Zainskaya State District Power Plant, operating on fuel oil;

Siberian Federal District:

• Nazarovo State District Power Plant, which consumes fuel oil;

Southern:

• Stavropolskaya, which can also operate on combined fuel in the form of gas and fuel oil;

Northwestern:

• Kirishskaya with fuel oil.

List of Russian power plants that generate energy using water, located on the territory of the Angara-Yenisei cascade:

Yenisei:

• Sayano-Shushenskaya
• Krasnoyarsk hydroelectric power station;

Angara:

• Irkutsk
• Bratskaya
• Ust-Ilimskaya.

Nuclear power plants in Russia

Balakovo NPP

Located near the city of Balakovo, Saratov region, on the left bank of the Saratov reservoir. It consists of four VVER-1000 units, commissioned in 1985, 1987, 1988 and 1993.

Beloyarsk NPP

Located in the city of Zarechny, in the Sverdlovsk region, it is the second industrial nuclear power plant in the country (after the Siberian one).

Four power units were built at the station: two with thermal neutron reactors and two with fast neutron reactors.

Currently, the operating power units are the 3rd and 4th power units with BN-600 and BN-800 reactors with an electrical power of 600 MW and 880 MW, respectively.

BN-600 was put into operation in April 1980 - the world's first industrial-scale power unit with a fast neutron reactor.

BN-800 was put into commercial operation in November 2016. It is also the world's largest power unit with a fast neutron reactor.

Bilibino NPP

Located near the city of Bilibino, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. It consists of four EGP-6 units with a capacity of 12 MW each, commissioned in 1974 (two units), 1975 and 1976.

Generates electrical and thermal energy.

Kalinin NPP

It is located in the north of the Tver region, on the southern shore of Lake Udomlya and near the city of the same name.

It consists of four power units with VVER-1000 type reactors with an electrical capacity of 1000 MW, which were put into operation in 1984, 1986, 2004 and 2011.

On June 4, 2006, an agreement was signed on the construction of the fourth power unit, which was commissioned in 2011.

Kola NPP

Located near the town of Polyarnye Zori, Murmansk region, on the shores of Lake Imandra.

It consists of four VVER-440 units, commissioned in 1973, 1974, 1981 and 1984.
The power of the station is 1760 MW.

Kursk NPP

One of the four largest nuclear power plants in Russia, with the same capacity of 4000 MW.

Located near the city of Kurchatov, Kursk region, on the banks of the Seim River.

It consists of four RBMK-1000 units, commissioned in 1976, 1979, 1983 and 1985.

The power of the station is 4000 MW.

Leningrad NPP

One of the four largest nuclear power plants in Russia, with the same capacity of 4000 MW.

Located near the city of Sosnovy Bor, Leningrad region, on the coast of the Gulf of Finland.

It consists of four RBMK-1000 units, commissioned in 1973, 1975, 1979 and 1981.

The power of the station is 4 GW. In 2007, production amounted to 24.635 billion kWh.

Novovoronezh NPP

Located in the Voronezh region near the city of Voronezh, on the left bank of the Don River. Consists of two VVER units.

It supplies the Voronezh region with 85% of electrical energy, and 50% with heat for the city of Novovoronezh.

The power of the station (excluding ) is 1440 MW.

Rostov NPP

Located in the Rostov region near the city of Volgodonsk. The electric power of the first power unit is 1000 MW; in 2010, the second power unit of the station was connected to the network.

In 2001-2010, the station was called Volgodonsk NPP; with the launch of the second power unit of the NPP, the station was officially renamed Rostov NPP.

In 2008, the nuclear power plant produced 8.12 billion kWh of electricity. The installed capacity utilization factor (IUR) was 92.45%. Since its launch (2001), it has generated over 60 billion kWh of electricity.

Smolensk NPP

Located near the city of Desnogorsk, Smolensk region. The station consists of three power units with RBMK-1000 type reactors, which were put into operation in 1982, 1985 and 1990.

Each power unit includes: one reactor with a thermal power of 3200 MW and two turbogenerators with an electrical power of 500 MW each.

US nuclear power plants

The Shippingport Nuclear Power Plant, with a rated capacity of 60 MW, opened in 1958 in Pennsylvania. After 1965, there was an intensive construction of nuclear power plants throughout the United States.

The bulk of America's nuclear power plants were built in the 15 years after 1965, before the first serious accident at a nuclear power plant on the planet.

If the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is remembered as the first accident, then this is not so.

The cause of the accident was irregularities in the reactor cooling system and numerous errors by operating personnel. As a result, the nuclear fuel melted. It took about one billion dollars to eliminate the consequences of the accident; the liquidation process took 14 years.

After the accident, the government of the United States of America adjusted the safety conditions for the operation of all nuclear power plants in the state.

This accordingly led to the continuation of the construction period and a significant increase in the price of “peaceful atom” facilities. Such changes slowed down the development of the general industry in the United States.

At the end of the twentieth century, the United States had 104 operating reactors. Today, the United States ranks first on earth in terms of the number of nuclear reactors.

Since the beginning of the 21st century, four reactors have been shut down in America since 2013, and construction has begun on four more.

In fact, today in the United States there are 100 reactors operating at 62 nuclear power plants, which produce 20% of all energy in the state.

The last reactor built in the United States came online in 1996 at the Watts Bar power plant.

US authorities adopted new energy policy guidelines in 2001. It includes the vector of development of nuclear energy, through the development of new types of reactors, with a more suitable efficiency factor, and new options for reprocessing spent nuclear fuel.

Plans until 2020 included the construction of several dozen new nuclear reactors with a total capacity of 50,000 MW. In addition, to achieve an increase in the capacity of existing nuclear power plants by approximately 10,000 MW.

The USA is the leader in the number of nuclear power plants in the world

Thanks to the implementation of this program, the construction of four new reactors began in America in 2013 - two of which at the Vogtl nuclear power plant, and the other two at VC Summer.

These four reactors are the latest type - AP-1000, manufactured by Westinghouse.

When and where was the world's first nuclear power plant built?
The world's first nuclear power plant (NPP) was built in the USSR ten years after the bombing of Hiroshima. Almost the same specialists took part in this work as in the creation of the Soviet atomic bomb - I. Kurchatov, N. Dollezhal, A. Sakharov, Yu. Khariton and others. It was decided to build the first nuclear power plant in Obninsk - there already was a fully operational turbogenerator with a capacity of 5000 kW. The construction of the nuclear power plant was directly supervised by the Obninsk Physics and Energy Laboratory, founded in 1947. In 1950, the technical council, from several proposed options, chose a reactor developed by the Khimmash Research Institute, headed by N. Dollezhal. On June 27, 1954, the world's first nuclear power plant produced industrial current. Currently, it no longer works and serves as a kind of museum. But the experience gained during its construction was then used in the construction of other, more powerful and advanced nuclear power units. Nuclear power plants now operate not only in our country, but also in the USA, France, Japan and many other countries.

What was the first peaceful reactor?
The principle of operation and design of the reactor became clear to the reactor developers back in the mid-1940s: graphite blocks with channels for uranium blocks and control rods - neutron absorbers - were placed in a metal casing. The total mass of uranium had to reach a critical mass, at which a sustained chain reaction of fission of uranium atoms began. Moreover, on average, for every thousand neutrons generated, several did not fly out instantly, at the moment of fission, but a little later they flew out of the fragments. The existence of these so-called delayed neutrons turned out to be decisive for the possibility of a controlled chain reaction.
Although the total number of delayed neutrons is only 0.75%, they significantly (by about 150 times) slow down the rate of increase in the neutron flux and thereby facilitate the task of regulating the reactor power. During this time, by manipulating the neutron-absorbing rods, you can interfere with the course of the reaction, slow it down or speed it up. In addition, as it turned out, the neutron flow significantly heated the entire mass of the reactor, so it is sometimes called the “atomic boiler.”
This scheme served as the basis for the creation of the first reactor for a nuclear power plant. During construction, the design of an industrial reactor was taken as a basis. Only instead of uranium rods, uranium heat-removing elements - fuel rods - were provided. The difference between them was that the water flowed around the rod from the outside, while the fuel rod was a double-walled tube. Enriched uranium was located between the walls, and water flowed through the internal channel. To prevent it from boiling and turning into steam right there in the fuel elements - and this could cause abnormal operation of the reactor - the water had to be under a pressure of 100 atm. From the collector, hot radioactive water flowed through pipes into a heat exchanger-steam generator, after which, after passing through a circular pump, it returned to the cold water collector. This current was called the first circuit. Water (coolant) circulated in it in a closed circle without coming out. In the second circuit, water acted as a working fluid. Here it was non-radioactive and safe for others. Having heated up in the heat exchanger to 190 °C and turned into steam with a pressure of 12 atm, it was supplied to the turbine, where it did its useful work. The steam leaving the turbine had to be condensed and sent back to the steam generator. The efficiency of the entire power plant was 17%.
At the nuclear power plant, the control system for the processes occurring in the reactor was also carefully thought out, devices were created for automatic and manual remote control of control rods, for emergency shutdown of the reactor, and devices for replacing fuel rods.

The peculiarity of a nuclear power plant is that the source of electrical energy is the nucleus of an atom (uranium and plutonium).

The first nuclear power plant in the world was built in the Soviet Union.

The following nuclear power plants are currently operating in Russia:

• Balakovskaya
• Beloyarskaya
• Bilibinskaya
• Kalininskaya
• Kola
• Kursk
• Leningradskaya
• Novovoronezhskaya
• Rostovskaya
• Smolenskaya

The largest number of nuclear power plants are located in the United States

Obninsk NPP.

Sixty years ago, in the city of Obninsk, Kaluga Region, the world's first nuclear power plant with the AM-1 reactor (Atom Peaceful) produced industrial current. The AM-1 reactor was a graphite channel-type thermal neutron reactor cooled by water under pressure with tubular fuel elements. The thermal power of the reactor was approximately 30 MW. The electrical power of the first nuclear power plant in different years was from 3 to 5 MW, the efficiency reached 17%. The fuel load is approximately 560 kg of uranium, enriched in uranium-235 to 10 or 5%.

“The construction of the first industrial nuclear power plant in the USSR with a capacity of 5000 kW was completed in 1954, and on June 27, 1954, the station was already generating electric current using the fission energy of uranium nuclei,” says the report presented by D.I. Blokhintsev and N. A. Nikolaev at the UN International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy, held in Geneva on August 8-20, 1955.

Reactor diagram of the First Nuclear Power Plant. Photo: aes1.ru

The operation of the Obninsk NPP reactor was stopped on April 29, 2002 due to unprofitability. “The station was shut down solely for economic reasons, since maintaining it in a safe condition became more and more expensive every year,” reports the website of the State Scientific Center of the Russian Federation - IPPE, which is currently in charge of the first nuclear power plant. Currently, the nuclear power plant is an industrial memorial complex.

“Now the fuel has been unloaded, most of the radioactive equipment has been removed, but the reactor graphite remains. It is not yet clear what is better: to remove the reactor graphite or leave it in place,” said Mikhail Zhaidin, scientific director of the Industry Memorial Complex “The World’s First Nuclear Power Plant” in a telephone interview with Bellona.Ru, “The issue of decommissioning work still remains in the shadows, this is not a question for the nuclear power plant museum. There are different ideas - for example, to preserve the first nuclear power plant as a museum. But this should be decided by the Government. After all, there are no regulatory documents allowing radiation-hazardous objects to function as museums. Now the nuclear power plant is on the balance sheet of the IPPE. The question is who will continue to maintain the nuclear power plant museum, who will pay for it.”

The race for the “peaceful atom”

The topic of the “peaceful atom” in the mid-1950s became one of the hottest issues in the confrontation between the USSR and the USA. In 1953, US President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivered a speech “Atoms for Peace” at the UN General Assembly, in which he proclaimed the beginning of the peaceful use of atomic energy in the United States. In many ways, the Atoms for Peace program was of a propaganda nature; one of its goals was to justify growing military spending. The Soviet “Peaceful Atom” was embodied in the Obninsk nuclear power plant, which began to be used to promote the peaceful course and technical achievements of socialism.

Photo: aes1.ru

“Atom peaceful” in a series of military reactors

In 1954, the USSR had quite a few nuclear reactors in operation. Five uranium-graphite reactors operated at the Mayak plant in the Chelyabinsk region: A (since 1948), AI (since 1951), AV-1 (since 1950), AV-2 (since 1951), AB-3 (since 1952). In terms of layout and basic engineering solutions, these reactors were close to the Obninsk AM-1: graphite stack, technological channels, vertical core. The thermal power of these reactors reached hundreds of MW and exceeded the power of Atom Mirny. The uranium-graphite reactors I-1 and EI-2 were being prepared for launch at the Siberian Chemical Plant near Tomsk (launched in 1955 and 56). Thus, in the early 1950s, a military nuclear reactor was commissioned every year in the USSR. In 1954, Atom Mirny appeared among them.

Nuclear power plant or experimental reactor?

The debate continues over what the Obninsk plant really is - the world's first commercial nuclear power plant, or an experimental facility that only demonstrates the possibility of generating electricity using the fission energy of uranium nuclei?

A number of foreign researchers consider the American Shippingport nuclear power plant, commissioned in Pennsylvania in May 1958 and decommissioned in 1989, to be the first commercial power plant. The pressurized water reactor (predecessor of Russian VVERs) at the Shippingport NPP had a thermal power of about 200 MW, the nuclear power plant produced an electrical power of 60 MW, and over 25 years of operation, 7.4 billion kWh of electricity was generated.

The indicators of the Obninsk NPP are much more modest. On the website of the museum of the first nuclear power plant there is no information about how much electrical and thermal energy it generated during its entire operation.

Mikhail Zhaidin said that it is not known exactly how many years the Obninsk station operated in electricity generation mode. “There is even a joke: “Either the nuclear power plant gives energy, or the nuclear power plant takes energy,” he says: “Data on the production of electrical and thermal energy is not relevant. It was a research station. It worked in different modes, at different powers. The station was significant as a scientific, experimental, educational center.”

Indeed, from the moment work began at the Obninsk NPP, a number of experimental installations and stands were put into operation, at which various reactor technologies were tested. The crews of the first Soviet nuclear submarines underwent training at the Obninsk NPP.

However, in the documents of Rosatom, Rostechnadzor and the State Scientific Center of the Russian Federation - IPPE, the rector of the nuclear power plant is called “IRAM”, which means “ AM research reactor» .

Photo: aes1.ru

Economy

Like any experimental installation, the Obninsk station could not become cost-effective. Even with the very peculiar pricing in the USSR, it was not possible to make the nuclear power of the first nuclear power plant competitive. “The cost of 1 kWh of electrical energy generated at the station significantly exceeds the average cost of 1 kWh of powerful thermal power plants in the USSR,” admits the report at the UN International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy in 1955: “Analysis of the cost of 1 kW *h of energy generated at the first nuclear power plant shows that its high cost is primarily due to the small size of the station, high costs for individual production of fuel elements, increased consumption of uranium-235 due to the small size of the nuclear reactor, as well as a number of design features at this stations aimed at creating increased operational reliability, which, as operating experience shows, can be abandoned.”

Of course, in the 1955 document, the reference to “operating experience,” which by that time amounted to about a year, seems very strange. At that time, the nuclear energy industry still had events ahead that would negate nuclear optimism, such as the accidents at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant. Then it seemed that the cost of nuclear electricity could be reduced by increasing the power of nuclear power plants and reducing the cost of building nuclear power plants, primarily by simplifying the design of reactors and safety systems.

Photo: aes1.ru

And if the first was possible, for example, the direct development of the AM-1 reactor became uranium-graphite channel reactors RBMK-1000 with a thermal power of 3 GW, then the second task was not completed. After a series of radiation accidents and catastrophes, the requirements for the safety systems of modern nuclear power plants are increasing, and the cost of their construction is also growing. And even now, like 60 years ago, the total cost of nuclear electricity significantly exceeds the cost of electricity from natural gas stations. This thesis has been proven in: “electricity from nuclear power plants is already more expensive for the consumer than what is produced by gas stations. ... The state provides the industry with practically free capital, bears nuclear risks not covered by insurance premiums, and is largely involved in the direct financing of the nuclear fuel cycle.”

Now the future of nuclear energy no longer seems as cloudless as it seemed in 1954. But in any case, the Obninsk nuclear power plant remains a monument to that era, the era of the arms race, the Cold War and ardent optimism towards nuclear energy.

A bygone era...

Photo: aes1.ru

On June 27, 1954, in the village of Obninskoye, Kaluga Region, at the Institute of Physics and Power Engineering named after A.I. Leypunsky (Laboratory “B”), the world’s first nuclear power plant was launched, equipped with one uranium-graphite channel reactor with a water coolant AM-1 ( "atom peaceful") with a capacity of 5 MW. From this date, the history of nuclear energy began.

During the Second World War, work began in the Soviet Union to create nuclear weapons, led by the physicist and academician I.V. Kurchatov. In 1943, Kurchatov created a research center in Moscow - Laboratory No. 2 - later transformed into the Institute of Atomic Energy. In 1948, a plutonium plant with several industrial reactors was built, and in August 1949, the first Soviet atomic bomb was tested. After the production of enriched uranium was organized and mastered on an industrial scale, an active discussion began on the problems and directions for creating power nuclear reactors for transport use and generating electricity and heat. On behalf of Kurchatov, domestic physicists E. L. Feinberg and N. A. Dollezhal began to develop a reactor design for a nuclear power plant.

On May 16, 1950, a decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR determined the construction of three experimental reactors - uranium-graphite with water cooling, uranium-graphite with gas cooling and uranium-beryllium with gas or liquid metal cooling. According to the original plan, they were all supposed to work in turn on a single steam turbine and generator with a capacity of 5000 kW.

The construction of the nuclear power plant was led by the Obninsk Physics and Energy Laboratory. During construction, the design of an industrial reactor was taken as a basis, but instead of uranium rods, uranium fuel elements, the so-called fuel rods, were provided. The difference between them was that water flowed around the rod from the outside, and the fuel rod was a double-walled tube. Enriched uranium was located between the walls, and water flowed through the internal channel. Scientific calculations have shown that with this design it is much easier to heat it to the required temperature. The material of the heat transfer elements had to be durable, anti-corrosion resistant and should not change its properties under prolonged exposure to radiation. At the first nuclear power plant, the control system for the processes occurring in the reactor was carefully thought out. For this purpose, devices were created for automatic and manual remote control of control rods, for emergency shutdown of the reactor, and devices for replacing fuel rods.

In addition to generating energy, the Obninsk nuclear power plant reactor also served as a base for experimental research and for the production of isotopes for medical needs. The operating experience of the first, essentially experimental, nuclear power plant fully confirmed the engineering and technical solutions proposed by nuclear industry specialists, which made it possible to begin implementing a large-scale program for the construction of new nuclear power plants in the Soviet Union.

In May 1954, the reactor was launched, and in June of the same year, the Obninsk nuclear power plant produced the first industrial current, opening the way for the use of atomic energy for peaceful purposes. Obninsk NPP has operated successfully for almost 48 years.

April 29, 2002 at 11:31 a.m. Moscow time, the reactor of the world's first nuclear power plant in Obninsk was shut down forever. As the press service of the Ministry of Atomic Energy of the Russian Federation reported, the station was stopped solely for economic reasons, since “maintaining it in a safe condition became more and more expensive every year.”

A nuclear energy museum was created on the basis of the Obninsk nuclear power plant.

Lit.: Velikhov E. P. From the nuclear bomb to the nuclear power plant. Igor Vasilievich Kurchatov (1903-1960) // Bulletin of the Russian Academy of Sciences. 2003. T. 73. No. 1. P. 51-64; State Atomic Energy Corporation "Rosatom": website. 2008-2014. URL : http://www.rosatom.ru/ ; State Scientific Center of the Russian Federation - Institute of Physics and Energy named after A. I. Leipunsky: website. 2004–2011. URL: http://www.ippe.obninsk.ru/ ; 10 years of the world's first nuclear power plant of the USSR. M., 1964;The world's first nuclear power plant - how it began: Sat. history-arch. doc. / Institute of Physics and Energy named after Academician A. I. Leypunovsky; [Comp. N.I. Ermolaev]. Obninsk, 1999.