POWER November 2016 - 23

TOP PLANTS
Table 1. Main construction stages. Source: Rosenergoatom
Date
Main construction stages
1981
Soviet Union Ministry of Energy decides to build power units with BN-800 and BN-1600 fast-neutron
reactors
1985-1989 Construction of the temporary buildings and structures for two power units (No. 4 and 5)
2004
Commissioning of heat supply complex designed for two power units
2006
2007
Excavation works for reactor building; concreting of reactor compartment basemat
Concreting of turbine unit foundation; assembly shop for pre-assembly of reactor vessel elements
put into operation
2008-2009 Construction of main components; pre-assembly of reactor vessel elements; assembly of reactor pit
support column, block of ionization chambers, etc.
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
Installation of reactor vessel completed
Assembly of guard vessel
Installation of steam generators; concreting of the turbine unit basement; reactor vessel testing
Second circuit tanks filled with sodium; start of replaceable reactor equipment assembly; central
hall crane installed; water-supply channel filled with water
Completion of the turbine unit installation; physical startup stage starts in February and ends in
July; minimum critical mass reached in June
First connection to the grid (December 10)
Pilot operation stage initiated in February and completed in August; comprehensive testing at full
power completed in September
ahead with plans to build five BN-800s in the
Urals region.
In 1986, however, the Chernobyl disaster
struck, and the Soviet Union quickly pared
back its nuclear power ambitions. Then, in
the 1990s, reeling from the Soviet Union's
collapse, Russia sank into a severe economic
depression,
unable to support substantial
investments in new nuclear projects. In that
period, FBRs suffered, unable to compete
economically with Russia's light-water and
graphite-moderated thermal neutron reactors.
Another problem: Supplies of high-grade
uranium had increased sharply as a result of
new uranium deposit discoveries in Kazakhstan
during the 1960s and 1970s.
In 1998, Russia's slumbering economy
awoke and began growing at an unprecedented
annual gross domestic product growth rate
of 6% over the next decade. Soaring electricity
consumption soon highlighted the country's
dilapidated power infrastructure. As the country
embarked upon reforms (see " The Russian
Power Revolution " in POWER's January 2013
issue at powermag.com), in 2000, President
Vladimir Putin unveiled a new program for
the expansion of Russia's nuclear capacity.
The program focused mostly on light-water
reactors, but it also called for the commercialization
of FBRs, outlining the construction of
a few BN-800 reactors and design of a commercial
prototype of the BN-1600.
Construction Kicks Off
Today, Russia's fast-neutron reactor program
continues to be integral to the development
of a closed uranium-plutonium fuel cycle
whose MOX fuel will be reprocessed and reNovember
2016 | POWER
cycled. As well as producing chain-reacting
uranium-233 from neutron capture in thorium
blankets as a potential fuel for thermalneutron
reactors, state-owned nuclear entity
Rosatom's " Proryv " -or " Breakthrough " -
program seeks to significantly reduce volumes
of highly radioactive waste that will
need to be stored in a permanent geological
repository. According to the World Nuclear
Association, the country anticipates that 100
GWe of nuclear capacity will require only
about 100 metric tons (mt) of input per year,
from " enrichment tails, natural uranium and
thorium, with minor actinides being burned.
About 100 [mt per year] of fission product
wastes go to a geological repository, " it says.
Pivotal to Russia's plans was construction
of a BN-800 fast reactor designed
by Rosatom's nuclear engineering arm
OKBM Afrikantov, which finally kicked
off as the fourth unit at Beloyarsk in 2006.
Construction was spearheaded by general
civil contractor Uralenergostroy. Though it
encountered delays owing to funding issues,
the unit's construction schedule was mostly
smooth, helped along by onsite assembly of
key components (Table 1).
Beloyarsk 4 achieved first criticality in June
2014 and was grid-connected in December
2015. On February 9, 2016, Rosatom reported
that the unit had completed all tests under a
" first " 72-hour test-period at 50% power. By
August 18, 2016, the unit started operating at
100% power for the first time. During its ascent
to full power, the reactor-which is 2,100
MWt, 864 MWe gross, and 789 MWe net-
already had generated more than 1.3 TWh of
power, and it is expected to produce 3.5 TWh
www.powermag.com
by the end of 2016, said plant operator Rosenergoatom,
Rosatom's power station operations
subsidiary.
This September, the unit underwent " comprehensive "
testing at its rated power, a procedure
that " is a major and final condition in
preparation for the delivery of power in commercial
operation, " Rosenergoatom explained.
With the 15-day comprehensive test that was
undertaken by more than 1,200 Russian specialists
and witnessed by 20 observers from
seven foreign countries, " the power block has
been confirmed to be capable of dealing with
the rated capacity within the designed parameters
without any deviations, " it said.
With that test complete, Rosenergoatom
will be required to obtain permission from
Russian nuclear regulator Rostechnadzor to
operate the reactor commercially. " Afterwards,
the Rosatom Corporation will draft
a resolution approving the power block's
commissioning. All of those procedures are
planned to be completed in September 2016, "
Rosenergoatom said.
On the Edge of Technical
Development
Putting Russia's BN-800 unit online has been
a source of pride for the country (Figure 1).
" The Beloyarsk [nuclear power plant] is on
the edge of technical development. No other
country boasts such [a] track record in fast
reactors, " noted Andrey Dementiev, deputy
CEO and director of Rosenergoatom Concern's
nuclear power plant production and
operation department.
The unit is essentially a fast reactor with
a sodium coolant and a turbine unit. But as
the BN-800 unit's general contractor, Russian
engineering firm SPbAEP, specifically
23
POWER POINTS
Winning Attributes
Most powerful sodium-cooled
fast-breeder reactor in the world
Can be used for multiple
purposes, including power
generation, plutonium
consumption, processing of
long-lived supertransuranics
accumulated in the radwastes
of reactors of any type, and
production of isotopes
Pivotal to Russia's plans to close
the nuclear fuel cycle, increase
production of nuclear fuel,
expand its nuclear power fleet,
and reduce nuclear waste
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POWER November 2016

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