NUCLEONICS WEEK APRIL 21,2005
Russia’s State Duma (parliament) has recommended to the federal government
development of breeder reactors with a closed fuel cycle, following hearings on
“legal provisions for innovation development of the atomic energy branch” this
month.
The main justification for
the recommendation is the possibility to recycle spent nuclear fuel, in
particular imported spent fuel, as well as accumulated weapons-grade
plutonium, in fast reactors.
Lawmakers pointed out that
large amounts of money are spent for storage of separated plutonium in both
Russia and the U.S. without an agreernent on what to
do with it. Construction of a plant: in Russia to produce mixed-oxide (MOX)
fuel from surplus weapons plutonium for use in VVER-1000 and future VVER-1500
reactors is planned under U.S.-Russian arms control agreements, but full
funding has not yet been secured.
Duma members favor completion of the BN-800 fast reactor
as unit 4 of the Beloyarsk nuclear power plant, in
the southern Urals. The design is rated at 800 MW, but could be increased to
880 MW. A 600-MW fast reactor, BN-600, has been operating as Beloyarsk-3 for
over 25 years. Russian nuclear utility Rosenergoatom
plans to extend the unit’s operation for 10 or 15 years. Russia also has
experience operating earlier sodium-cooled breeder reactors, including BN350
in Kazakhstan (now closed), the experimental BR-b at Obninsk,
and BOR-60 in Dimitrovgrad.
At the hearings, Anatoly Zrodnikov, general director of the Institute of Physics
& Power Engineering (IPPE), said Russia is a world leader in construction
of breeders with liquid metal coolant. Launching of the BN-800 reactor with
mixed uranium-plutonium fuel, he said, will allow Russia to keep a lead
estimated at 10 to 15 years. Experts say Russian experience in this field is in
demand and that support of the technology would allow Russia to take a lead in
exporting breeders. They refer in particular to China, which they said wants to
construct 100 fast reactors.
Another motivation for
transition to reactors with a closed fuel cycle is the limitation in domestic
uranium reserves, which Zrodnikov said could
lead to a supply crisis within seven to 10 years.
According to Russian
geologists, this year, Russia’s demand for natural uranium will amount to
16,000 metric tons (Ml), but domestic production is only 3,200 MT. By 2020,
demand may increase to 20,500 MT against domestic production projected at 5,500
MT.
For the time being, about 45%
of the country’s uranium demand is covered from stockpiles, which will be
exhausted in 10 years, Zrodnikov said.
Valery Yazev, chairman of the
parliament committee for energy, transportation and communications, was less
pessimistic. Yazev predicted that uranium reserves
would be exhausted in 50 or 100 years, along with depletion of oil and gas
reserves. But fuel reserves for fast reactors with a closed fuel cycle may last
for thousands of years, said Yazev.
Academician Yevgeny Velikhov, chairman of the
Kurchatov Atomic Energy Institute, linked the urgency
of developing fast reactors to recycle of spent nuclear fuel arisings, which his institute projects at 40,000 MT in
2050.
Yuri Sokolov,
deputy director general of the IAEA, argued that developing fast reactors
considerably reduces the risks of proliferation of nuclear weapons and nuclear
terrorism. Sokolov added that Russia must take steps
toward execution of laws permitting deliveries to Russia of spent fuel and provision
of fresh fuel in exchange. A framework law permitting spent fuel import was
passed in 2002, but implementing regulations have yet to be adopted.
Lack of funds remains a main obstacle to completion of BN-800. Financing of the facility is not included in the 2005 federal budget despite active lobbying in the Duma. The cost of finishing BN-800 has been estimated at $1.18-billion.
Yazev asserted that this is some 10 times less than the
cost of a Japanese-made fast reactor. However, Rosenergoatom
thinks that the cost of BN-800 may rise due to improvements in the design
introduced recently. Currently only 10% of the needed funds are available. This
year, Rosenergoatom plans to spend at least
$21-million on BN800 and is seeking additional sources of funding.
Oleg Saraev,
Rosenergoatom’s general director, told the parliament
his company wants to build 10 fast reactors by 2020. This project would cost
approximately 55-billion and would save about 55.36-billion in uranium
extraction and processing of nuclear waste, he said.
Saraev—who previously was director of the Beloyarsk station—urged the parliament to support a
national strategy for self-sufficiency in nuclear fuel supply and minimization
of natural uranium use as well as nuclear waste production. He said such a
project would allow Russia to prepare for construction of a commercial series
of 800-MW and 1000-Mw fast reactors, with improved safety and economics.
Duma members agreed that present legislation does not
promote the full development of the nuclear power industry and that the basic
atomic energy act needs to be amended. A serious drawback of existing
legislation is the lack of a mechanism for guaranteed funding of investments
and attracting investments, they said.
The Duma therefore adopted a decision on drafting of a law “on State support of innovation development in the nuclear energy sector.” Since private ownership of atomic facilities is prohibited in Russia, the law proposes to give investors the right to own part of the power generated by a nuclear unit. Duma members plan to include this proposal in a specific piece of legislation.
The Duma
also recommended to the Russian government to draft a “national program for
development of fast neutron reactors with a closed fuel cycle,” and consider
funding it from the state budget.
Russia started preparing for
BN-800 construction 20 years ago. The unit was planned to be completed in 2010,
when the design lifetime of BN-600 is supposed to end. However, so far, only a
boiler house has been built because of the lack of funding, and construction
of main facilities has not yet begun.
Zrodnikov believes that Russia can complete the BN-800 by 2012.
Yazev considers the unit can be put into operation
between 2012 and 2015.
However, Alexander Schmygin, deputy chief of the atomic energy department in
the Fedcral Atomic Energy Agency (Rosatom),
told Russian news services that the first commercial standardized BN-800 unit
will not be built for 40 years.
He noted unresolved problems
associated with the reactor’s efficiency Shmygin said
that “the ambitious plans for annual launching of a new nuclear unit are
impracticable because of lack of funds, construction capacities, and
work-force.” More concrete, he said, are Rosatom’s
plans for launching by 2010 three new VVER-l000s, at Rostov,
Balakovo and Kalinin.
Yazev noted that besides BN-800, Russian specialists have
also been developing BREST-300, an innovative fast breeder design with lead
coolant and an on-site fuel cycle, since the late 1990s. But Yazev said the BREST-300 project is “less optimistic”
because it is surrounded by “a mass of continuing ideological disputes.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed support for development of fast reactors
back in 2000, and the BREST project was supported by Yevgeny
Adamov, head of the former Minatom
(Atomic Energy Ministry). Adamov, however, faced
serious resistance from many scientists, which hindered advancement of the
idea, said Yazev. He expressed surprise at a recent
declaration from the Urals division of the Russian Academy of Sciences in favor
of BREST-300. The BREST-300 project can’t be realized before 10 or 15 years,
after BN-800, Yazev said.
In the meantime, the parliament supported management of the Kurchatov Institute and the Russian Federal Nuclear Center, which called for implementation of high-temperature gas-cooled reactors, underlining their potential for production of hydrogen.—Alexei Breus, Kiev
/