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
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The development of low-capacity nuclear power plants (LCNPs) in our country and the world is reviewed. Examples of designs which have been implemented are examined. Modern designs developed in our country and abroad are presented and analyzed. The requirements which LCNPs must satisfy without on-site refueling are formulated. The prospects for developing low-capacity nuclear power plants to provide energy and economic security in remote regions of our country are examined.Interest in low-capacity nuclear power plants (LCNPs) arose at the very beginning of nuclear power. This was due to the problems of developing an autonomous -not requiring continual fuel delivery -source of energy for regions which are remote and difficult to reach, where it is impossible or very difficult to use the conventional fossil fuels and there are no lines for transmitting power. In the USA, the development of low-capacity nuclear power started at the beginning of the 1950s for the purpose of solving problems of the Department of Defense, for which purpose a special program was developed for the Army in 1952. The program provided for the development and construction of stationary, modular-transportable, portable land based, and floating LCNPs with water moderated and cooled and boiling water vessel reactors as well as gas and liquid-metal cooled reactors to provide electricity and heat to garrisons stationed at remote military bases [1]. In accordance with this program, a total of eight experimental power plants with capacity ranging from 0.3 to 3 MW(e) were built, including in Alaska (SM-1A), Greenland (PM-2A), and Antarctica (PM-3A). These plants were decommissioned in the 1960s. The floating LCNP Sturgis (MH-1A) was built on Lago Gatún in the Panama Canal Zone and operated from August 1968 to July 1976.In the USSR, the first computational and design research work on LCNPs also started at the beginning of the 1950s. The objective of this work was to determine the most promising designs for practical implementation in the form of experimental, demonstration, and commercial models. About 20 variants of 1-1.5 MW(e) LCNPs with different reactors (operating on thermal, intermediate-energy, and fast neutrons) and implementations (stationary, modular-transportable, portable, and floating) were developed [2].The decision to develop low-capacity nuclear power plants was made in October 1956. Following this step, several technical designs were completed and some were implemented. A 1.5 MW(e) TÉS-3 mobile nuclear power plant with a water moderated and cooled reactor was put into operation in 1961. This plant operated until July 18, 1966 [2]. A 0.75 MW(e) ARBUS modular-transportable plant with organic coolant was designed and built in 1961-1963. It was put into its nominal operating regime in Dimitrovgrad. The Gamma experimental nuclear-power system with a 220 kW(t) water cooled reactor and thermionic generators with total power 6.6 kW was put into operation in1981 and is still operating at the Russian Science Center Kurchatov Institute [3]. The...
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