BN-1200 is a design for a sodium-cooled fast neutron power reactor with an electrical capacity of 1,200 MW, being developed in Russia as part of the program to close the nuclear fuel cycle. The lead developer of the reactor is the Nizhny Novgorod-based OKBM Afrikantov — the I. I. Afrikantov Experimental Design Bureau of Mechanical Engineering, part of the Atomenergomash machine-building holding of the Rosatom State Corporation.[1]
Operating principle
Like its predecessor, the BN-800, the BN-1200 reactor belongs to the class of "fast" reactors: it uses no neutron moderators, and liquid sodium serves as the coolant. Such installations are regarded as a key element of a closed nuclear fuel cycle, which makes it possible to reproduce fissile materials and substantially reduce the volume of high-level waste.[2]
Development in Nizhny Novgorod
In January 2015, OKBM Afrikantov completed the acceptance of work for the 2014 stage under a state contract for a set of research and development work to substantiate the design of the BN-1200 reactor. As a result of this stage, the main schematic and technological solutions were developed, the principal buildings, systems, and utilities of the power unit were defined, feasibility and economic assessments were carried out, and the detailed designs of the reactor plant and the turbine plant were completed, including the detailed designs of the equipment and systems they contain, calculations, and the results of experimental studies.[1]
Alexey Vasyaev, head of the project's responsibility center, described the 2014 stage as the completion of development of the materials for the power unit project as a whole.[1] The next step planned was a technical review of the documentation and consideration of the project by the joint scientific and technical council of Rosatom and the Rosenergoatom Concern OJSC, while refinement of the detailed design of the reactor plant was scheduled for 2015–2016.[2]
The work was carried out by OKBM Afrikantov jointly with a number of Rosatom enterprises: the Leipunsky Institute for Physics and Power Engineering (FEI) state research center, OKB Gidropress JSC, Atomproekt JSC, VNIINM JSC, the Prometey Central Research Institute of Structural Materials, and other organizations.[2]
Sources
- Kommersant (Volga Region) — "OKBM Afrikantov" presented the project materials for the BN-1200 fast neutron power unit — Kommersant Nizhny Novgorod
- sdelanounas.ru — "'OKBM Afrikantov' presented the BN-1200 power unit project materials to the customer" in the "Energy and Fuel Complex" blog / Made by Us