How does the Smolensk nuclear power plant

• How does the Smolensk Nuclear Power Plant

Smolensk NPP - Nuclear Power Station, located 3 km from the city of Desnogorsk Smolensk region, and the largest energy companies in the north-western region of the unified energy system of the country's capacity of 3,000 MW. In the period from 1982 to 1990 at Smolensk NPP came into operation three power units with VVER-1000 RMBK improved design with a range of advanced systems that ensure safe operation of nuclear power plants.

Smolensk NPP operates three power units with RBMK-1000. The project envisages construction of two queues, two blocks from the common support structures and systems in each, but due to the termination in 1986 (because of the Chernobyl accident) the construction of the fourth unit of the second place was left unfinished.

In Desnogorsk we arrived by bus early in the morning. everything is very strict with photography. You can only shoot from certain points of the power plant under the supervision of staff security.

Desnogorsk. What did you say the name? For the average citizen word sounds as bright as Opochka, Vyhino or Bologoe - another town in the vast expanses of our vast country. Residents are aware of the Smolensk region (noblesse oblige), which is located near the city of Smolensk Nuclear Power Plant. But once you pronounce the word "Desnogorsk" in the company of fishermen and you will hear a chorus of approval, emotional cheers and cries of joy. For fisherman Desnogorsk, for Everest climbers - a place where he flies in his dreams. Still would. Near the town is a pond with an area of 44 square kilometers, where the water never freezes - a reservoir of Smolensk. The station provides year-round warm pond. The pond teems with fish. Bream, crucian carp, pike, white and bighead carp, grass carp and black carp, catfish, tilapia, and even African freshwater shrimp - not a complete list of the inhabitants of Smolensk reservoir. Power units with RBMK-1000 single-circuit type. This means that the steam turbine is generated directly from the water, cooling the reactor. Each power unit comprises: a reactor with a capacity of 3200 MW (t) and the two turbine generator power of 500 MW (e) each. Turbine generator set, in general, for all three blocks turbine hall about 600 m length, each reactor was located in a separate building. The station operates only in the basic version, its load is not affected by changes in the power system needs.

In Russia, 10 nuclear power plants working today. They bring light, warmth and joy in the house. I think that every nuclear power plant takes on 1/10 part of this positive work? Wrong. Each station is strong in its own way, for example, Smolensk NPP generates 1/7 of the total "nuclear electricity" Russian annually giving the energy system of the country, on average, 20 billion. Kilowatt hours of electricity.

You know that science fiction writers occupy only the second place in the "People with the most nightmarish fantasy". Who in the first place? Specialists who design security systems for nuclear power plants. They are required to not only come up with a situation that simply can not be, but also to develop a defense against it. During the construction of Smolensk fantasy these professionals played out in earnest.

All power units are equipped with plant locations accidents systems, eliminates the emission of radioactive substances into the environment even in the most severe accidents related to the complete rupture of the reactor cooling circuit piping. All equipment cooling circuit placed in sealed boxes of reinforced concrete that can withstand pressures of up to 4, 5 kgf per square centimeter. That's a lot or a little? Judge for yourself. The excess pressure generated by the atomic explosion shock wave in complete destruction zone (zone nearest to the epicenter of the atomic bomb) is almost 10 times less (0, 5 kgf / cm).

Did you know that around Smolensk invisible compass built a circle of 30 kilometers radius. Everything inside it, called the surveillance zone. In this area you will not find people in civilian clothes, there are no humanoid robots and superspetsnazovtsev. Surveillance zone is called because it closely examines the air, water and soil for changes in background radiation. Automatic sensors indicate that the background corresponds to norm.

And in the area of surveillance officers Smolensk restored and landscaped springs 11, enjoys the fame of the holy sources.

To get to the station is not so simple. At the beginning of the employee applies a magnetic pass to the special reader. Next comes into the bay, where must enter the password and remove the palm prints, and is weighted (allowable divergence of no more than 10 kg) and a reconciliation of photos. Only after all these procedures, the employee goes to the locker room or a medical examination.

All are given special socks, shoes, gowns, caps, gloves, earplugs and helmets.

The output of employees are 2 levels of radiation control.

Special radiation sensor hung on the chest.

The machine room. Smolensk nuclear power units mounted turbine K-500 65-3000 generators with TIA-500 500 MW. All of the rotors of the turbine generator and cylinders combined into a single shaft. Shaft speed - 3000 min -1. Turbogenerator total length - 39 meters, its weight - 1200, the total rotor weight - about 200 m.

Main coolant pumps are designed to create a circulation of the coolant in the first nuclear power circuit. Supervision of the MCP is conducted remotely block nuclear power plant control room. The pump housing is connected by welding to the main circulation loop reactor plant. The housing has 3 pins for connection locks with vertical and horizontal setting tools, which are used for perception of seismic loads.

The central reactor hall. The reactor was placed in a concrete pit size 21, 6h21, 6h25, 5 m Weight reactor is transferred to the concrete via the metal structure, which serve simultaneously radiation protection, and together with reactor jacket to form a sealed cavity -. The reactor space. Inside the reactor space situated graphite stack cylindrical shape with a diameter 14 and a height of 8 meters, consisting of a collected column dimensions 250h250h500 mm blocks with vertical holes for the channels in the heart. To prevent oxidation of the graphite and to improve the transmission theme from graphite reactor to the coolant space is filled with nitrogen-helium mixture.

The fuel U235 uranium dioxide used in the reactors of the RBMK. The natural uranium contains 0, 8% U235 isotope. To reduce the size of the reactor U235 content of the fuel previously to 2 or 2 to 4% concentration mills.

the fuel elements (FE) is the height of a zirconium tube 3, 5 0 m and a wall thickness of 9 mm encase 88 mm, wall thickness 4 mm. reactor is operated uniformly distributed through the reactor 211 rods containing neutron absorbing. Water is fed into the bottom of the channels, it washes with TVEL. The fuel cartridge is installed in the process channel. The number of fuel channels in the reactor - 1661.

vertical green tube (18 mm diameter rods 15) - this is the tablet with the fuel.

Water is fed into bottom channels washes with fuel rods and is heated with a portion being thus converted to steam. The resulting steam-water mixture is withdrawn from the top of the channel. To regulate the water flow at the inlet into each channel are provided shut-off and control valves.

The advantage to the RBMK reactors of the vessel type, the replacement of spent fuel assemblies, which requires shutdown of the reactor, is the possibility of overloading the cassettes during reactor operation at nominal power.

Overload made unloading and loading machine (REM), which is controlled remotely. The machine is hermetically joined to the top part of the process channel, in its pressure equalized with the pressure in the channel, then the spent fuel cartridge is removed and in its place a fresh set. REM design ensures reliable biological protection against radiation during overload radiation situation in the central hall is almost unchanged.

When operating at full capacity of the reactor per day loading one or two fresh fuel cartridge. Spent fuel is first placed in a special storage pools, located in the central room, and then, as their fields will be transported in a separate storage facility for spent nuclear fuel. The closed loop heat removal from the reactor is called multiple forced circulation circuit (MCC). It consists of two independent loops, each half of which cools the reactor.

On the 20 meter depth visible blue glow. This effect Cerenkov - glow induced in a transparent medium of the charged particle which is moving at a velocity exceeding the phase velocity of light in that medium. Cerenkov radiation is widely used in high energy physics for registration relativistic particles and determine their speeds.