The Chernobyl tragedy and dramatic events at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant caused serious damage to the development of nuclear energy throughout the world. Through the efforts of the media, a strong belief was created about the imminent danger of any nuclear power plant.
But, according to many scientists, there is no worthy alternative in meeting the demand for electricity, and, for example, Balakovskaya, Russia's largest nuclear power plant, is no more a threat than any other industrial facility of this scale.
The principle of operation of nuclear power plants
All major nuclear power plants have a similar operating principle. For the production of electricity, heat is used, which is formed during a controlled chain reaction of fission of nuclear fuel - mainly enriched uranium. This process is carried out in a nuclear reactor - the "heart" of a nuclear power plant.
Next is the preparation of hot steam, which drives the turbines of the electric generators. Depending on the design, these can be rotors used in power plants of all types or built taking into account the specifics of nuclear fuel plants.
Types of Reactors
There are several types of reactors that differ in fuel, coolant passing through the core, and moderator necessary to control the chain reaction.
The most economical and efficient reactors have proved themselves, where ordinary, “light” water is used as a process fluid. By design, they are of two main types:
- RBMK - channel high power reactor. In it, the steam that rotates the turbines is prepared directly in the core, so this object is called boiling. Such was the reactor of the fourth power unit in Chernobyl, a plant of this type is used, for example, by the Kursk station - the largest nuclear power plant in Russia.
- VVER - water-water power reactor. This is a system of two pressurized circuits: in the first - radioactive - water circulates directly through the reactor core, absorbing heat from the nuclear fission chain reaction, in the second - steam is generated that is supplied to the turbines of the electric generators. Such reactors are used in Zaporizhzhya NPP, the most powerful in Europe, and they operate another largest Russian NPP - Balakovo.
The second type of reactor is gas-cooled, where graphite is used to control the processes (EGP-6 reactor at the Bilibino NPP). The third - on fuel in the form of natural uranium and with "heavy water" - deuterium oxide - in the form of a coolant and moderator. Fourth - RN - fast neutron reactor.
First nuclear power plants
The first experiment to use a nuclear reactor to generate electricity was conducted in the USA, at the Idaho National Laboratory, in 1951. The reactor worked at a power sufficient to illuminate four 200-watt light bulbs. After some time, the installation began to provide electricity to the entire building, where scientific research was conducted on a nuclear reactor. It was connected to the power network after 4 years, and the nearby city of Arco was the first in the world to be provided with electricity through a nuclear installation.
But the world's first industrial nuclear power plant is a nuclear power plant launched in the summer of 1954 in the city of Obninsk, Kaluga Region of the USSR, and immediately connected to the network. From here originates the nuclear energy of Russia. The capacity of the Obninsk NPP was small - only 5 MW. After 3 years in the Tomsk region, in the city of Seversk, the first stage of the Siberian NPP was commissioned, which subsequently produced 600 MW. The reactor mounted there was designed to produce weapons-grade plutonium, and electrical and thermal energy were a by-product. Today, the reactors at these stations are shut off.
NPP in the territory of the former USSR
From the late 1950s and early 1960s, the intensive construction of such power plants in various regions of the country began in the USSR. The list of nuclear power plants in Russia and the Union republics includes 17 similar structures, 7 of which remained outside the current Russian Federation:
- Armenian, near the city of Metsamor. It has two power units with a total capacity of 440 MW. After the Spitak earthquake of 1988, which the nuclear power plant withstood without serious accidents due to the seismic stability inherent in the design, a decision was made to stop it. However, in the future, due to the high demand for electricity, the government of the republic decided to launch a second power unit in 1995. Despite the fact that this took into account the increased requirements for technological and environmental safety, the EU insists on its conservation.
- Ignalina NPP in the north-east of Lithuania operated from 1983 to 2009 and was closed at the request of the European Union.
- Zaporizhzhya, the most powerful nuclear power plant in Europe, is located on the banks of the Kakhovka reservoir in the city of Energodar, built in 1978. It consists of 6 VVER-1000 power units that produce a fifth of Ukraine's electricity - about 40 billion kW / h per year. It fully complies with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) regulations.
- Rivne, near the city of Kuznetsovsk in the Rivne region of Ukraine. It has 4 VVER-type power units with a total capacity of 2835 MW. The IAEA was praised by the results of the safety review.
- Khmelnitsky, near the city of Neteshina, near the Gorini River in Ukraine. Involved 2 VVER-1000.
- South Ukrainian, located on the shore of the Southern Bug in the Nikolaev region of Ukraine. 3 VVER-1000 power units provide 96% of the electricity needs of the south of Ukraine.
- Chernobyl, near the city of Pripyat, became the site of the largest man-made disaster on April 26, 1986 . The last of the four RBMK-1000 power units was shut down in 2000.
The share of electricity generated by nuclear power plants in the total energy balance of the largest nuclear power plants, hydroelectric power stations, thermal power plants in Russia is about 18%. This is significantly less than, for example, the leader in the nuclear energy industry - France, where this figure is 75%. According to the energy strategy adopted by the government, for the period until 2030 it is planned to bring this ratio up to 20-30% and increase the production of electricity using nuclear fuel-powered units by 4 times.
Nuclear Energy of Russia
How many nuclear power plants in Russia today? In our country, there are 10 stations with 35 power units of various types in their composition (about 100 such units operate in the USA). Water-to-water reactors (VVER) are the most widely used in our country - only 18 pieces. Of these, with a capacity of 1000 MW - 12, another 6 - 440 MW. There are also 15 boiling channel reactors in operation: 11 RBMK-1000 and 4 - EGP-6.
Which nuclear power plant is the largest in Russia
At present, Rosenergoatom’s system does not have one clear leader among nuclear power plants in terms of capacity and contribution to the overall balance of the country. There are 2 complexes where the same amount (4) of the same type VVER-1000 reactors is used. These are the Balakovo and Kalinin nuclear power plants. Each of them has a total capacity of 4,000 MW. The same capacity is laid in the Kursk and Leningradskaya power plants, where 4 power units of the RBMK-1000 type are used. Moreover, the most powerful nuclear power plant in the world - the Japanese Kashiwazaki-Kariva - has 7 power units with a total capacity of 8212 MW.
The concentration of energy enterprises of this type in the European part of Russia has led to the fact that they play a crucial role in providing electricity to the central regions of the country. In the center of Russia, and especially in the north-west, the share of nuclear power plants in the energy balance reaches 40%.
6 other Russian nuclear power plants
The Kola Station, Russia's largest nuclear power plant in the northern territories, operating two thousand megawatt power units, contributes to the Russian energy sector. The introduction of new capacities at the Novovoronezh NPP continues, where new, improved VVER -1200 power units are used. Beloyarsk NPP in the Sverdlovsk region can be considered an experimental site for Russian nuclear scientists. It uses several types of power units, including fast neutron reactors. In Chukotka, the Bilibino station is located, which supplies this region with the necessary heat.
The question of which nuclear power plant is the largest in Russia may again become relevant when new power units will be commissioned at the Rostov station, of which there are three so far, and their capacity is 3,100 MW. Smolenskaya operating at RBMK reactors has the same power.
Prospects
The industry development program takes into account how many nuclear power plants in Russia need to be built, how many power units need to be reconstructed and put into operation in order to improve energy supply. This is especially true for the regions of the North, Siberia and the Far East. The majority of oil and gas producing enterprises are located there, which so far form the basis of the Russian economy.
One of the most promising areas that Russian nuclear energy has is the creation of floating nuclear power plants. These are low-power transportable power units (up to 70 MW) based on fast reactors of the KLT-40 type. Such mobile structures can provide the most inaccessible areas with electricity, industrial and domestic heat, and even fresh water. Commissioning of the first FNPP Mikhail Lomonosov is planned in the coming years.