Rosatom develops nuclear fuel for modernized floating power units

They will supply power to the Baimsky Mining and Processing Plant in Chukotka in Russia’s Far East. Rosatom will build four power units for the enterprise with three main and one standby, which will be used during the repair of one of the main ones.

JSC Afrikantov OKBM made a technical design for the core of the RITM-200S reactor for the Rosatom fuel division TVEL. The technical designs of the fuel element, burnable absorber rods and the starting neutron source were developed by the JSC VNIINM (part of TVEL), the technical designs of absorbing elements and emergency protection rods were developed by the JSC Afrikantov OKBM. The production of the core will be set at the Machine-Building Plant in Elektrostal (part of TVEL).

The project of the upgraded floating power unit includes two RITM-200S reactor units with a nominal thermal power of 198 MW each. Compared to the existing Akademik Lomonosov floating nuclear power plant, the new generation units will be of higher economic efficiency and an increased level of safety. The core for the RITM-200S reactor has four times the energy resource than the core for the KLT-40S reactor of the Akademik Lomonosov, as well as an extended nuclear fuel service life. The interval between refuelings for the RITM-200S is about five years, which is about two times higher than for the Akademik Lomonosov.

The family of modern nuclear reactors of the RITM type is widely used in low-power projects. Three universal Project 22220 nuclear icebreakers with two RITM-200 reactors, Arktika, Siberia and Ural became part of the nuclear fleet and are operating on the routes of the Northern Sea Route. In addition, Rosatom is implementing a pilot project to build a low-power ground-based nuclear power plant with a RITM-200N reactor plant to supply power to remote areas of Yakutia.