The 'Beloyarsk Nuclear Power Station' () is the second of the then
Soviet Union’s nuclear plants. It is situated by the town
Zarechny, in the
Sverdlovsk Oblast,
Russia. (Actually, Zarechny was created to service the station, and the station was named after the
Beloyarsky District, Sverdlovsk Oblast) The closest larger city is
Yekaterinburg. The power plant was the first to put
graphite-
moderated reactors in operation, to produce
electrical power.
The two first reactors at Beloyarsk were put in operation in
1964 and
1967, respectively. These were of the AMB-100 and AMB-200 type, which are an earlier version of
RBMK graphite moderated reactors. They were shut down in
1983 and
1989.
One of the reactors that are operational today at Beloyarsk Power Plant, is a
BN-600 fast breeder reactor, which generates 600
MW. It is the world’s largest power-generating unit with a
fast neutron reactor.
In 1987, the construction of a new and bigger fast-breeder reactor, the BN-800 type began. The work was suspended in 1988. In 1992 President
Yeltsin ordered the construction resumed, but due to lack of finances, very little has been done. Construction costs has been estimated to 1 trillion
rubles. The lifetime of the BN-600 ends in 2010. The new reactor can be finished only in 2012–2015 with the current scarce financing. So, the lifetime of the BN-600 is likely to be extended.
| Unit | Type | El. Output (MW) | Start of project | First criticality | Shut down |
|---|
| 1 | RBMK | 108 | 01.06.1958 | 26.04.1964 | 01.01.1983 |
| 2 | RBMK | 160 | 01.01.1962 | 29.12.1967 | 01.01.1990 |
| 3 | BN-600 | 600 | 01.01.1969 | 08.04.1980 | 01.11.1981 |
| 4 | BN-800 | 800 | 18.07.2006 | | |
See also
★
Nuclear power in Russia
External links
★
Beloyarsk NPP, INSP programme