Expected radiological and radioecological consequences of operating floating nuclear heat and power plants

Abstract

The construction of floating nuclear power plants began in the interests of supplying energy in remote far-north and far-east regions in our country which are difficult to reach. A predictive assessment of radiological and radioecological consequences of operating such plants is extremely urgent. The problem is examined on the basis of the effects of a floating nuclear power plant on plant workers, the public, and the environment that have been determined by a computational method at the design stage as well as on the basis of generalization and analysis of experience gained in operating nuclear powered ships under the difficult climatic conditions in the Far North and Far East over the last 45 years.The regions of the Far North and the remote regions associated to them occupy more than 50% of the territory of Russia. Local autonomous energy-supply systems, which will not become a part of a unified energy system of the country any time soon and which require continual deliveries of fossil fuels, allow approximately 20 million people to survive and industry to develop. Technical and economic investigations performed for the Far North and Far East have shown that is economically advantageous to develop and use in these regions floating nuclear heat and power plants (FNHPP) as alternative sources of energy.A floating power generating unit is the base unit for generating 60 MW(e) of electric energy and 150 MW(t) of thermal energy. It includes two KLT-40S facilities with water-moderated water-cooled reactors in a strong sealed protective envelope, designed to confine an accident with rupture of the first-loop pipeline.Even though similar reactor systems (OK-900, KLT-40, -40M) with total production of about 250 reactor years and several hundreds of shipborne reactors have been operating reliably and safely for several years in icebreakers and nuclearpowered submarines, the problem of ensuring the radiological and radioecological safety of FNHPP remains at the center of attention. The present article is devoted to an examination of these questions.Safety [1]. In developing FNHPP, priority is given to accident avoidance and radwaste reduction. At the same time, measures are being implemented to increase the reliability of safety systems, and technical means for controlling unanticipated accidents, including serious accidents with cord damage, are being adopted.

Securing the radiological safety of people and the environment at all stages of the life cycle of floating nuclear heat-and-power plants

“…In 1968-1976, this plant met the requirements of the American military base in the Panama Canal Zone [8]. The assessments presented in [10] of the consequences of the maximum (anticipated) accidents confirm that the floating plant Akademik Lomonosov with such properties meets the requirements of SP ATES-03 and can be characterized as a category II radiologically dangerous object. It is anticipated that the run of such a reactor facility will be 3-4 yr, after which the facility will be refueled and spent nuclear fuel will remain on board.…”

Analysis of Possible Application of High-Temperature Nuclear Reactors to Contemporary Large-Output Steam Power Plants on Ships

“…Contemporary ship nuclear power plants are used only on naval ships and for propulsion of Russian icebreakers of Arktika and Taimyr class [4,22]. It provides a tactical advantage over ships propelled by combustion engines.…”

“…They are moderated, water-cooled reactors and their low values of operational temperature do not require use of heat -resistant materials. The reactors are of a high core power density owing to which core volume does not exceed 1 m 3 also in ship applicable solutions [4,22]. However the high power density is not advantageous from the safety side because in case of a cooling system breakdown a violent evaporation of cooling water, fracture of reactor vessel and core melt-down, may happen.…”

Comparison Analysis of Selected Nuclear Power Plants Supplied With Helium from High-Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor

“…In this context, marine nuclear power plants can operate well in difficult circumpolar conditions, as these systems do not require elaborate infrastructure. Moreover, they can be operated for long time without reactor re-fuelling, which seems to be very favourable in far north conditions, in both economic and logistic terms [14,10]. The next country which follows the USA and Russia is China.…”