ARTICLES 441The possibilities of using high-temperature reactors operating together with a gas turbine are determined for nuclear-powered icebreakers. The advantages of such systems over previously used nuclear-powered systems and diesel-electric propeller systems are examined. The possibilities of using the MARS-S reactor and gas-turbogenerators, utilizing the heat from the exhaust gases, in nuclear-powered icebreakers are studied. The characteristics of the MARS-S and propeller electric system of a nuclear-powered icebreaker with drive-shaft power up to 90 MW are presented. The possibility of using such systems in floating electric power plants utilizing heat for driving a counterpressure turbine is examined. A version of a single-reactor ship power plant for a lighter and an icebreaker, such as Taimir, is presented.Nuclear-powered icebreakers are essential for life in remote northern regions. Such icebreakers make it possible to escort ship convoys with fuel, equipment, and products along the North Sea route. The Murmansk shipping lines now operate six nuclear-powered icebreakers and one nuclear-powered lighter Sevmorput'. The icebreaker Lenin has been decommissioned, and the icebreaker Sibir' is docked. The icebreaker Arktika has exhausted its service life, but an examination has made it possible to extend the operational service life. The service life of all presently operating icebreakers is close to exhaustion. This makes it urgent to replace the presently operating icebreakers. There are different possible variants for doing so.Construction of Icebreakers with Similar Highly Reliable Operating Systems. Unfortunately, in this case, fuel reloading (approximately once every four years) requires the ship to be taken out of service for 1.5-2 months. Since fossilfuel prices are increasing, the system is becoming uneconomical. Construction of Diesel-Electric Icebreakers of Comparable Power.This variant is undesirable. A 36-MW dieselelectric icebreaker operating at full power consumes 150 tons of fossil fuel per day. During the winter, the system operates almost continuously at full power, and the fuel onboard permits operation for one month. For example, the icebreaker Ermak (36 MW on the propeller drives) has nine diesel generators, some of which may not be operating for various reasons. In addition, the icebreaker does not operate according to the complete electric-drive scheme, which decreases the operating effi-UDC 621.039.1
No abstract
Autonomous low-capacity nuclear power plants are best suited as reliable sources of power in remote regions which are difficult to reach. This article presents a complete study of the cost-effectiveness of low-capacity nuclear power plants and possible ways to increase it. The economic acceptability of an almost two-fold increase of the run time of KLT-40S and ABV-6 reactors by switching to UO 2 with a larger load is analyzed. The possible organizational and economic mechanisms for implementing low-capacity nuclear-power designs are determined. At the present time, the optimal organizational form for implementing low-capacity nuclear power projects is a public-private partnership. The financial and economic instruments which work effectively within the framework of state-private partnership and which take account of the specific nature of nuclear technology are licensing and the constructiontransfer-operation arrangement.The main drawbacks of nuclear power today are an open fuel cycle and, as a consequence of this, the production of enormous quantities of radioactive wastes, nuclear power plants whose efficiency, reliability, and safety are inadequate, and the need for autonomous energy production in remote regions with a difficult climate, a situation which is especially acute in our country. A practical solution of the second problem and a step toward a partial solution of the first one is to introduce autonomous low-capacity nuclear power plants (ALCNPs) into the energy system. According to the IAEA classification, ALCNPs are energy sources with equivalent electric power less than 300 MW(e) [1]. Such a power level makes ALCNPs suitable for solving not only social but also large-scale economic-industrial energy-supply problems.The main drawbacks of ALCNPs are the relatively high specific capital investment as compared with high-capacity nuclear power plants (50000-150,000 rubles/kW), as a result of which there are those who believe that ALCNPs are not cost-effective, regardless of the exceptional qualities of long-term autonomy and the much lower decommissioning costs.Cost-Effectiveness of ALCNPs. Using the specially developed computer program NTC [2], we shall complete a technical-economic assessment of various designs for low-capacity nuclear power production by modeling the cost-effectiveness of the two currently best developed ALCNP designs, specifically, ALCNPs with KLT-40S, which has successfully completed the preliminary stages and has received permission for adoption, and ALCNPs with ABV-6. The calculations were performed for two types of cores: variant A -the initially proposed core and variant B -a modified core.
The energy and economic plans for national security are key plans. It is shown that it is necessary to implement a systematically organized network of low-capacity nuclear power plants which is capable of increasing the country's national security at the international, regional, and local levels in respect to geopolitical and socioeconomic as well as various emergency situations. It is shown that such a system is especially important for increasing the energy security of all regions, realizing the resource and economic potential of remote and Arctic territories of our country, and consolidating and increasing the economic efficiency of the extraction industry.National security of the current Russian government is based on a complex of multiplan policies and diplomatic, economic, technological, ideological, military, and other measures, all of which are more complicated than before, and the solution of one or another combination of strategic, economic, diplomatic, and scientific-technical problems according to the national security strategy. The present article takes account of the basic assumptions, determining the principal goals, tasks, priorities, and mechanisms of implementation of the government policy as well as a system of strategic planning measures for socioeconomic development of the country's Arctic zone to 2020.We shall examine in this context the role of a system of low-capacity nuclear power plants, which are understood to be nuclear power-generating units with capacity to 50 MW(e). Estimates show that the demand of only the northern regions of the country is ~20 GW of their total installed capacity. Low-Capacity Nuclear Power Plants in Inaccessible Regions.In distributed power supply zones, low-capacity power generation plays a determining role in ensuring energy security. Because such zones encompass mainly the northern and north-eastern parts of our country with severe climate, difficult and expense conditions for delivering shipments, and remoteness from supply centers while maneuvering resources and capacity on small installations is hampered, their energy safety becomes especially acute.Telemedicine and remotely delivered education using stable communication channels based on a reliable electricity supply will be needed in inaccessible regions. Agricultural production is possible only in protected soil while comfortable housing requires heating. Thus, the implementation of the four most important national projects -public health, education, agriculture, and housing -depends on the power supply.At present, power generation based on renewable energy sources (wind, geothermal, tidal, and others) can be used to supply only household energy needs and some trades work, but substantial production requires base-load power generation.The total power generation and consumption in zones with decentralized power supply does not exceed 4-5% of the total for the country. But the unit cost of electricity in these regions is many-fold higher than the average expenditures on energy production in Russia. Power ...
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