The State Corporation is planning to realize the “Proryv” (Breakthrough) Project for creating the newest fuel for atomic industry to work on after 2020. Almost all enterprises of the industry are included, one of them is Siberian Chemical Combine (SCC) – the major enterprise for NFC in Russia and in the world. That’s where the research and demonstration complex for the project is planned to be built with the BREST-OD-300 reactor system for NFC and nitride fuel production complex for fast breeder reactors.
A few days ago they announced the construction starting date – 2014, according to Andrey Nikolaev, the BREST-OD-300 head of project. The first step will be the construction of dense plutonium-uranium mixed oxide (nitride) fuel fabrication module.
“Fast” Infrastructure
“Our task up to the end of this year is developing all documentation, so that the construction could be started in the middle of 2014. According to the plan the plant will be launched in 2017, – says Nikolaev. – The module is supposed to breed the first load for the reactor and that for further reloading, the reactor itself is to be started in 2020, while in 2022 the module for fuel processing is expected to be launched”.
Along with the fuel fabrication module they will start building infrastructure for reactor and processing module. “The nets will connect all the objects, – says the head of the project. – However the objects will be launched in different years. The reactor project will be issued in 2014. I believe the construction itself will start as early as 2015”.
Proving Technologies
BREST-300 will be the first world’s fast-breeder reactor with a liquid metal coolant. So the project’s main task is to establish a well-proven technology for new fuel production, new reactor operation and SNF reprocessing technology. “First there will be research going on and if it goes well, we’ll make a decision to start it in energy mode so it can produce electrical power as well”, – Andrey Nikolaev explained.
The Safest One
With all that the specialist is absolutely sure that the newest test reactor BREST-OD-300 will be safer than any other reactor operating these days. It will be automatically self-shut in case of any parameter deviations. BREST uses fuel of a lower reactivity charge, so instantaneous neutron power excursion is impossible. Dense nitride fuel is more reliable than oxide, better sustains mechanical defects and temperature conditions. Lead, unlike sodium currently used, is passive, and can be considered safer from the point of view of chemical reactivity.
Project of the century
Many experts already call “Proryv” the main nuclear project of the century. Indeed, the Russian specialists are challenging something nobody has challenged before. In case the project is realized it would allow closing the fuel cycle on fast reactors in industrial scale. Here is the opportunity of creating a new competitive and commercially reasonable nuclear power generation industry, with the risk of severe accidents excluded, the full uranium potential used instead of only 0,7%, the problem of SNF storage and burying of high-active waste handled, non-proliferation regime technologically reinforced.
The “Proryv” key task is creating two types of fast-breeder reactors and deciding which coolant is better to use, sodium or lead. Comparing these two types of reactors will show which one is safer and more efficient economically. At the same time the complex for NF regeneration is being developed.
