Signs and superstitions 

A message on the topic of atomic energy. Using the energy of a nuclear reaction. Nuclear power for space travel

Nuclear power is one of the branches of the energy industry. The production of electricity is based on the heat released during the fission of the nuclei of heavy radioactive metals. The isotopes of plutonium-239 and uranium-235, which decay in special nuclear reactors, are most widely used as fuel.

According to statistics for 2014, nuclear power produces about 11% of all electricity in the world. The top three countries in terms of nuclear power production are the United States, France and Russia.

This type of energy production is used in cases where the country's own natural resources do not allow energy production in the required volumes. But there is still debate around this energy sector. The economic efficiency and safety of production is called into question due to hazardous waste and possible leakage of uranium and plutonium into the field of nuclear weapons manufacturing.

Development of nuclear energy

Nuclear power was first generated in 1951. In the state of Idaho, in the United States, scientists have built a stable operating reactor with a capacity of 100 kilowatts. During the post-war devastation and the rapid growth of electricity consumption, nuclear energy has become particularly relevant. Therefore, three years later, in 1954, a power unit in the city of Obninsk started operating, and a month and a half after the launch, the energy it produced began to flow into the Mosenergo network.

After that, the construction and launch of nuclear power plants acquired a rapid pace:

  • 1956 - in the UK, the Calder Hall-1 nuclear power plant with a capacity of 50 MW was launched;
  • 1957 - launch of the Shippingport nuclear power plant in the USA (60 megawatts);
  • 1959 - Marcoule station with a capacity of 37 MW opens near Avignon in France.

The beginning of the development of nuclear energy in the USSR was marked by the construction and launch of the Siberian nuclear power plant with a capacity of 100 MW. The pace of development of the nuclear industry at that time was growing: in 1964, the first units of the Beloyarsk and Novovoronezh nuclear power plants with a capacity of 100 and 240 MW, respectively, were launched. During the period from 1956 to 1964, the USSR built 25 nuclear facilities around the world.

Then, in 1973, the first high-power unit of the Leningrad NPP with a capacity of 1000 MW was launched. A year earlier, a nuclear power plant in the city of Shevcheko (now Aktau), in Kazakhstan, began its work. The energy generated by it was used to desalinate the waters of the Caspian Sea.

In the early 1970s, the rapid development of nuclear energy was justified by a number of reasons:

  • lack of untapped hydropower resources;
  • growth in electricity consumption and the cost of energy carriers;
  • trade embargo on energy supplies from Arab countries;
  • expected reduction in the cost of building nuclear power plants.

However, in the 1980s, the situation turned into its opposite: the demand for electricity stabilized, as did the cost of fossil fuels. And the cost of building a nuclear power plant, on the contrary, has increased. These factors have created serious barriers to the development of this industry sector.

Serious problems in the development of the nuclear power industry were created by the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986. A large-scale man-made disaster made the whole world think about the safety of the peaceful atom. At the same time, a period of stagnation has begun in the entire nuclear energy industry.

The beginning of the 21st century marked the revival of Russia's nuclear power industry. Between 2001 and 2004, three new power units were put into operation.

In March 2004, in accordance with the Decree of the President, the Federal Atomic Energy Agency was formed. And three years later he was replaced by the state corporation "Rosatom"

In its current form, the Russian nuclear power industry is a powerful complex of more than 350 enterprises, the staff of which is approaching 230,000. The Corporation ranks second in the world in terms of the amount of nuclear fuel reserves and the volume of nuclear power generation. The industry is actively developing, at the moment the construction of 9 nuclear power units is underway in compliance with modern safety standards.

Industries of nuclear energy

The nuclear power industry of modern Russia is a complex complex consisting of several industries:

  • mining and enrichment of uranium - the main fuel for nuclear reactors;
  • a complex of enterprises for the production of uranium and plutonium isotopes;
  • the nuclear power plants themselves, performing the tasks of designing, building and operating nuclear power plants;
  • production of nuclear power plants.

Indirectly related to nuclear energy are research institutes, where the development and improvement of technologies for generating electricity is being carried out. At the same time, such institutions deal with the problems of nuclear weapons, security and shipbuilding.

Nuclear power in Russia

Russia has nuclear technologies of a full cycle - from the extraction of uranium ore to the generation of electricity at nuclear power plants. The nuclear power complex includes 10 operating power plants with 35 operating power units. The construction of 6 nuclear power plants is also being actively carried out, and plans for the construction of 8 more are being worked out.

Most of the energy generated by Russian nuclear power plants is used directly to meet the needs of the population. However, some stations, for example, Beloyarskaya and Leningradskaya, provide nearby settlements with hot water. Rosatom is actively developing a nuclear heating plant, which will make it possible to cheaply heat the coordinated regions of the country.

Nuclear power in the countries of the world

The first place in terms of production of atomic energy is occupied by the United States with 104 nuclear reactors with a capacity of 798 billion kilowatt-hours per year. The second place is France, where 58 reactors are located. Behind it is Russia with 35 power units. Rounding out the top five are South Korea and China. Each country has 23 reactors, only China is inferior to Korea in terms of the volume of nuclear electricity produced - 123 billion kWh / year versus 149 billion kWh / year.

The use of nuclear energy to convert it into electrical energy was first carried out in our country in 1954. The first nuclear power plant (NPP) with a capacity of 5000 kW was put into operation in Obninsk. The energy released in a nuclear reactor was used to turn water into steam, which then turned a turbine connected to a generator. Development of nuclear energy. The commissioned Novovoronezh, Leningrad, Kursk, Kola and other nuclear power plants operate on the same principle. The reactors of these stations have a capacity of 500-1000 MW. Nuclear power plants are built primarily in the European part of the country. This is due to the advantages of nuclear power plants in comparison with thermal power plants operating on fossil fuels. Nuclear reactors do not consume scarce organic fuel and do not load rail transport with coal. Nuclear power plants do not consume atmospheric oxygen and do not pollute the environment with ash and combustion products. However, the location of nuclear power plants in densely populated areas is fraught with a potential threat. In thermal (i.e., slow) neutron reactors, only 1-2% of uranium is used. The full utilization of uranium is achieved in fast neutron reactors, which also provide for the reproduction of the new nuclear fuel in the form of plutonium. In 1980, the Beloyarsk NPP launched the world's first fast neutron reactor with a capacity of 600 MW. Nuclear power, like many other industries, has harmful or dangerous environmental impacts. The greatest potential hazard is radioactive contamination. Difficult problems arise with the disposal of radioactive waste and the dismantling of nuclear power plants that have served their time. Their service life is about 20 years, after which the restoration of the stations is impossible due to the long-term exposure to radiation on the materials of the structures. The nuclear power plant is designed with the expectation of maximum safety of the plant personnel and the population. The experience of operating nuclear power plants around the world shows that the biosphere is reliably protected from the radiation effects of nuclear power plants in normal operation. However, the explosion of the fourth reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant showed that the risk of destruction of the reactor core due to human errors and miscalculations in the design of the reactors remains a reality, therefore, strict measures are being taken to reduce this risk. Nuclear reactors are installed on nuclear submarines and icebreakers. Nuclear weapon. An uncontrolled chain reaction with a large neutron amplification factor is carried out in an atomic bomb. In order for an almost instantaneous release of energy (an explosion) to occur, the reaction must proceed on fast neutrons (without the use of 235 moderators). The explosive substance is pure uranium g2U or 239 plutonium 94Pu. For an explosion to occur, the dimensions of the fissile material must exceed the critical dimensions. This is achieved either by quickly joining two pieces of fissile material with subcritical dimensions, or by sharply compressing one piece to a size at which the leakage of neutrons through the surface drops so much that the dimensions of the piece turn out to be supercritical. Both are carried out with conventional explosives. When a bomb explodes, the temperature reaches tens of millions of kelvins. At this temperature, the pressure rises sharply and a powerful blast wave is formed. At the same time, powerful radiation is generated. The chain reaction products of a bomb explosion are highly radioactive and dangerous to living organisms. Atomic bombs were used by the United States at the end of World War II against Japan. In 1945, atomic bombs were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In a thermonuclear (hydrogen) bomb, an explosion of an atomic bomb placed inside a thermonuclear bomb is used to initiate a fusion reaction. A non-trivial solution turned out to be that the explosion of an atomic bomb is used not to increase the temperature, but for the strongest compression of thermonuclear fuel by the radiation generated during the explosion of an atomic bomb. In our country, the main ideas for creating a thermonuclear explosion were put forward by AD Sakharov. With the creation of nuclear weapons, victory in war became impossible. A nuclear war is capable of bringing mankind to destruction, therefore the peoples of the whole world are persistently fighting for the prohibition of nuclear weapons.

Those. in those industrialized countries where there is not enough natural energy resources. These countries generate between a quarter and a half of their electricity from nuclear power plants. The US generates only an eighth of its electricity from nuclear power plants, but that's about one-fifth of the world's.

Nuclear power remains the subject of heated debate. Supporters and opponents of nuclear energy differ sharply in their assessments of its safety, reliability, and economic efficiency. In addition, there is a widespread opinion about the possible leakage of nuclear fuel from the production of electricity and its use for the production of nuclear weapons.

Nuclear fuel cycle.

Nuclear power is a complex industry involving many industrial processes that together form the fuel cycle. There are different types of fuel cycles, depending on the type of reactor and how the final stage of the cycle proceeds.

Typically, the fuel cycle consists of the following processes. Mines produce uranium ore. The ore is crushed to separate the uranium dioxide, and the radioactive waste is dumped. The resulting uranium oxide (yellow cake) is converted into uranium hexafluoride, a gaseous compound. To increase the concentration of uranium-235, uranium hexafluoride is enriched at isotope separation plants. The enriched uranium is then converted back into solid uranium dioxide, from which fuel pellets are made. Fuel elements (fuel elements) are assembled from pellets, which are combined into assemblies for introduction into the core of a nuclear reactor of a nuclear power plant. The spent fuel extracted from the reactor has a high level of radiation and, after cooling on the territory of the power plant, is sent to a special storage facility. It also provides for the disposal of waste with low levels of radiation accumulated during the operation and maintenance of the station. At the end of the service life, the reactor itself must be decommissioned (with decontamination and disposal of the reactor units). Each stage of the fuel cycle is regulated in such a way as to ensure the safety of people and the protection of the environment.

Nuclear reactors.

Industrial nuclear reactors were originally developed only in countries with nuclear weapons. The USA, USSR, Great Britain and France actively explored various variants of nuclear reactors. However, subsequently three main types of reactors began to dominate the nuclear power industry, differing mainly in fuel, coolant used to maintain the desired temperature of the core, and moderator used to reduce the speed of neutrons released during the decay process and necessary to maintain a chain reaction.

Among them, the first (and most common) type is the enriched uranium reactor, in which both the coolant and the moderator are ordinary or "light" water (light water reactor). There are two main types of light water reactor: a reactor in which the steam that drives the turbines is generated directly in the core (boiling water reactor), and a reactor in which steam is generated in an external, or second, circuit connected to the primary circuit by heat exchangers and steam generators (water -water power reactor - VVER). The development of a light water reactor began as early as the programs of the US military. Thus, in the 1950s, the General Electric and Westinghouse companies developed light water reactors for submarines and aircraft carriers of the US Navy. These firms were also involved in the implementation of military programs for the development of technologies for the regeneration and enrichment of nuclear fuel. In the same decade, the graphite-moderated boiling water reactor was developed in the Soviet Union.

The second type of reactor that has found practical application is a gas-cooled reactor (with a graphite moderator). Its creation was also closely associated with early nuclear weapons development programs. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Great Britain and France, in an effort to create their own atomic bombs, focused on the development of gas-cooled reactors that produce weapons-grade plutonium quite efficiently and can also run on natural uranium.

A third type of reactor that has been commercially successful is the one in which both the coolant and the moderator are heavy water, and the fuel is also natural uranium. At the beginning of the nuclear age, the potential benefits of a heavy water reactor were explored in a number of countries. However, then the production of such reactors was concentrated mainly in Canada, in part because of its vast reserves of uranium.

Development of the nuclear industry.

After World War II, tens of billions of dollars were invested in the electric power industry around the world. This building boom was fueled by rapid growth in demand for electricity, at a rate far outpacing population and national income growth. The main focus was on thermal power plants (TPPs) running on coal and, to a lesser extent, on oil and gas, as well as on hydroelectric power plants. There was no industrial-type nuclear power plant until 1969. By 1973, virtually all industrialized countries had exhausted the resources of large-scale hydropower. The surge in energy prices after 1973, the rapid growth in demand for electricity, and growing concern about the possibility of losing the independence of the national energy industry have all contributed to establishing the view of nuclear energy as the only viable alternative source of energy for the foreseeable future. The Arab oil embargo of 1973-1974 gave rise to an additional wave of orders and optimistic forecasts for the development of nuclear energy.

But each subsequent year made its own adjustments to these forecasts. On the one hand, nuclear power had its supporters in governments, in the uranium industry, in research laboratories, and among powerful energy companies. On the other hand, a strong opposition arose, in which groups defending the interests of the population, the cleanliness of the environment and the rights of consumers united. The debate, which continues to this day, has focused mainly on the harmful effects of various stages of the fuel cycle on the environment, the likelihood of reactor accidents and their possible consequences, the organization of the construction and operation of reactors, acceptable options for the disposal of nuclear waste, the potential for sabotage and terrorist attacks. at nuclear power plants, as well as issues of multiplying national and international efforts in the field of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.

Security issues.

The Chernobyl disaster and other nuclear reactor accidents in the 1970s and 1980s, among other things, made it clear that such accidents are often unpredictable. For example, at Chernobyl, Unit 4's reactor was severely damaged as a result of a power surge that occurred during a scheduled shutdown. The reactor was in a concrete shell and was equipped with an emergency cooling system and other modern safety systems. But it never occurred to anyone that when the reactor was turned off, a sharp power surge could occur and the gaseous hydrogen formed in the reactor after such a surge, mixed with air, would explode in such a way that it would destroy the reactor building. As a result of the accident, more than 30 people died, more than 200,000 people in Kiev and neighboring regions received large doses of radiation, and the source of Kyiv's water supply was contaminated. To the north of the crash site - right in the path of the radiation cloud - are the vast Pripyat swamps, which are of vital importance to the ecology of Belarus, Ukraine and western Russia.

In the United States, industries building and operating nuclear reactors also faced many safety issues that slowed down construction, required many changes to design and operating standards, and increased the cost and cost of electricity. There appear to have been two main sources of these difficulties. One of them is the lack of knowledge and experience in this new energy sector. The other is the development of nuclear reactor technology, in the course of which new problems arise. But the old ones remain, such as corrosion of steam generator pipes and cracking of pipelines of boiling water reactors. Other safety problems, such as damage caused by abrupt changes in coolant flow, have not been fully resolved.

Economics of nuclear energy.

Investments in nuclear energy, like investments in other areas of electricity generation, are economically justified if two conditions are met: the cost per kilowatt-hour is no more than that of the cheapest alternative production method, and the expected demand for electricity is high enough that the generated energy can be sold. at a price in excess of its cost. In the early 1970s, the world economic outlook looked very favorable for nuclear power, with both the demand for electricity and the prices of the main fuels, coal and oil, rising rapidly. As for the cost of building a nuclear power plant, almost all experts were convinced that it would be stable or even begin to decline. However, in the early 1980s, it became clear that these estimates were erroneous: the growth in demand for electricity stopped, the prices for natural fuel not only did not grow anymore, but even began to decline, and the construction of nuclear power plants was much more expensive than expected in the most pessimistic forecast. As a result, nuclear power everywhere entered a period of serious economic difficulties, and they were most serious in the country where it originated and developed most intensively - in the United States.

If we conduct a comparative analysis of the US nuclear energy economy, it becomes clear why this industry has lost its competitiveness. Since the early 1970s, the costs of nuclear power plants have risen sharply. The costs of a conventional CHP plant are made up of direct and indirect capital investments, fuel costs, operating costs and maintenance costs. Over the life of a coal-fired thermal power plant, fuel costs average 50–60% of all costs. In the case of nuclear power plants, capital investments dominate, accounting for about 70% of all costs. The capital costs of new nuclear reactors, on average, far exceed the lifetime fuel costs of coal-fired power plants, negating the benefit of fuel savings in the case of nuclear power plants.

Prospects for nuclear energy.

Among those who insist on the need to continue the search for safe and economical ways to develop nuclear energy, two main directions can be distinguished. Supporters of the first believe that all efforts should be focused on eliminating public distrust in the safety of nuclear technology. To do this, it is necessary to develop new reactors that are safer than existing light water reactors. Two types of reactors are of interest here: a "technologically extremely safe" reactor and a "modular" high-temperature gas-cooled reactor.

The prototype of a modular gas-cooled reactor was developed in Germany, as well as in the USA and Japan. Unlike a light water reactor, the design of a modular gas cooled reactor is such that the safety of its operation is ensured passively - without direct actions of operators or an electrical or mechanical protection system. In technologically extremely safe reactors, a passive protection system is also used. Such a reactor, the idea of ​​which was proposed in Sweden, does not appear to have progressed beyond the design stage. But it has received strong support in the US among those who see its potential advantages over a modular gas-cooled reactor. But the future of both options is uncertain due to their uncertain cost, development difficulties, and the controversial future of nuclear power itself.

Proponents of the other direction believe that before the moment when the developed countries need new power plants, there is little time left for the development of new reactor technologies. In their opinion, the primary task is to stimulate investment in nuclear energy.

But in addition to these two prospects for the development of nuclear energy, a completely different point of view has also formed. She pins her hopes on a more complete utilization of supplied energy, renewable energy resources (solar batteries, etc.) and energy saving. According to supporters of this point of view, if the advanced countries switch to the development of more economical sources of light, household electrical appliances, heating equipment and air conditioners, then the saved electricity will be enough to do without all existing nuclear power plants. The observed significant decrease in electricity consumption shows that efficiency can be an important factor in limiting the demand for electricity.

Thus, the nuclear power industry has not yet passed the test of economy, safety, and public disposition. Its future now depends on how effectively and reliably control over the construction and operation of nuclear power plants will be carried out, as well as how successfully a number of other problems will be solved, such as the problem of radioactive waste disposal. The future of nuclear energy also depends on the viability and expansion of its strong competitors - coal-fired thermal power plants, new energy-saving technologies and renewable energy resources.

The widespread use of nuclear energy began thanks to scientific and technological progress, not only in the military field, but also for peaceful purposes. Today it is impossible to do without it in industry, energy and medicine.

However, the use of nuclear energy has not only advantages, but also disadvantages. First of all, it is the danger of radiation, both for humans and for the environment.

The use of nuclear energy is developing in two directions: the use in energy and the use of radioactive isotopes.

Initially, atomic energy was supposed to be used only for military purposes, and all developments went in this direction.

The use of nuclear energy in the military sphere

A large number of highly active materials are used to produce nuclear weapons. Experts estimate that nuclear warheads contain several tons of plutonium.

Nuclear weapons are referred to because they cause destruction over vast territories.

According to the range and power of the charge, nuclear weapons are divided into:

  • Tactical.
  • Operational-tactical.
  • Strategic.

Nuclear weapons are divided into atomic and hydrogen. Nuclear weapons are based on uncontrolled chain reactions of fission of heavy nuclei and reactions. For a chain reaction, uranium or plutonium is used.

The storage of such a large amount of hazardous materials is a great threat to humanity. And the use of nuclear energy for military purposes can lead to dire consequences.

For the first time, nuclear weapons were used in 1945 to attack the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The consequences of this attack were catastrophic. As you know, this was the first and last use of nuclear energy in war.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

The IAEA was established in 1957 with the aim of developing cooperation between countries in the field of the use of atomic energy for peaceful purposes. From the very beginning, the agency has been implementing the program "Nuclear Safety and Environmental Protection".

But the most important function is control over the activities of countries in the nuclear sphere. The organization controls that the development and use of nuclear energy occurs only for peaceful purposes.

The purpose of this program is to ensure the safe use of nuclear energy, the protection of man and the environment from the effects of radiation. The agency also studied the consequences of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

The agency also supports the study, development and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and acts as an intermediary in the exchange of services and materials between members of the agency.

Together with the UN, the IAEA defines and establishes safety and health standards.

Nuclear power

In the second half of the forties of the twentieth century, Soviet scientists began to develop the first projects for the peaceful use of the atom. The main direction of these developments was the electric power industry.

And in 1954, a station was built in the USSR. After that, programs for the rapid growth of nuclear energy began to be developed in the USA, Great Britain, Germany and France. But most of them were not fulfilled. As it turned out, the nuclear power plant could not compete with stations that run on coal, gas and fuel oil.

But after the onset of the global energy crisis and the rise in oil prices, the demand for nuclear power increased. In the 70s of the last century, experts believed that the capacity of all nuclear power plants could replace half of the power plants.

In the mid-80s, the growth of nuclear energy slowed down again, the countries began to revise plans for the construction of new nuclear power plants. This was facilitated by both the energy saving policy and the decline in oil prices, as well as the disaster at the Chernobyl power plant, which had negative consequences not only for Ukraine.

After that, some countries stopped the construction and operation of nuclear power plants altogether.

Nuclear power for space travel

More than three dozen nuclear reactors flew into space, they were used to generate energy.

The Americans used a nuclear reactor in space for the first time in 1965. Uranium-235 was used as fuel. He worked for 43 days.

In the Soviet Union, the Romashka reactor was launched at the Institute of Atomic Energy. It was supposed to be used on spacecraft along with But after all the tests, it was never launched into space.

The next Buk nuclear installation was used on a radar reconnaissance satellite. The first apparatus was launched in 1970 from the Baikonur cosmodrome.

Today, Roskosmos and Rosatom are proposing to design a spacecraft that will be equipped with a nuclear rocket engine and will be able to reach the Moon and Mars. But for now, it's all at the proposal stage.

Application of nuclear energy in industry

Nuclear energy is being used to increase the sensitivity of chemical analysis and to produce ammonia, hydrogen and other chemicals that are used to make fertilizers.

Nuclear energy, the use of which in the chemical industry makes it possible to obtain new chemical elements, helps to recreate the processes that occur in the earth's crust.

Nuclear energy is also used to desalinate salt water. Application in ferrous metallurgy allows to recover iron from iron ore. In color - it is used for the production of aluminum.

Use of nuclear energy in agriculture

The use of nuclear energy in agriculture solves the problems of selection and helps in pest control.

Nuclear energy is used to create mutations in seeds. This is done to obtain new varieties that bring more yield and are resistant to crop diseases. So, more than half of the wheat grown in Italy for making pasta was bred using mutations.

Radioisotopes are also used to determine the best ways to apply fertilizers. For example, with their help, it was determined that when growing rice, it is possible to reduce the application of nitrogen fertilizers. This not only saved money, but also saved the environment.

A slightly strange use of nuclear energy is to irradiate insect larvae. This is done in order to display them harmlessly to the environment. In this case, the insects that emerged from the irradiated larvae do not have offspring, but in other respects are quite normal.

nuclear medicine

Medicine uses radioactive isotopes to make an accurate diagnosis. Medical isotopes have a short half-life and do not pose a particular danger to both others and the patient.

Another application of nuclear energy in medicine was discovered quite recently. This is positron emission tomography. It can help detect cancer at an early stage.

Application of nuclear energy in transport

In the early 50s of the last century, attempts were made to create a nuclear-powered tank. Development began in the US, but the project was never brought to life. Mainly due to the fact that in these tanks they could not solve the problem of shielding the crew.

The well-known Ford company was working on a car that would run on nuclear energy. But the production of such a machine did not go beyond the layout.

The thing is that the nuclear installation took up a lot of space, and the car turned out to be very overall. Compact reactors never appeared, so the ambitious project was curtailed.

Probably the most famous transport that runs on nuclear energy is various ships, both military and civilian:

  • Transport ships.
  • Aircraft carriers.
  • Submarines.
  • Cruisers.
  • Nuclear submarines.

Pros and cons of using nuclear energy

Today, the share in world energy production is approximately 17 percent. Although humanity uses but its reserves are not endless.

Therefore, as an alternative, it is used. But the process of obtaining and using it is associated with a great risk to life and the environment.

Of course, nuclear reactors are constantly being improved, all possible safety measures are being taken, but sometimes this is not enough. An example is the accidents at Chernobyl and Fukushima.

On the one hand, a properly operating reactor does not emit any radiation into the environment, while a large amount of harmful substances enter the atmosphere from thermal power plants.

The biggest danger is spent fuel, its processing and storage. Because to date, a completely safe way to dispose of nuclear waste has not been invented.

The twentieth century passed under the sign of the development of a new kind of energy contained in the nuclei of atoms, and became the century of nuclear physics. This energy is many times greater than the fuel energy used by mankind throughout its history.

Already by the middle of 1939, scientists of the world had important theoretical and experimental discoveries in the field of nuclear physics, which made it possible to put forward an extensive research program in this direction. It turned out that the uranium atom can be split into two parts. This releases a huge amount of energy. In addition, neutrons are released during the fission process, which in turn can split other uranium atoms and cause a nuclear chain reaction. The nuclear fission reaction of uranium is very efficient and far surpasses the most violent chemical reactions. Let's compare an atom of uranium and a molecule of an explosive - trinitrotoluene (TNT). During the decay of a TNT molecule, 10 electron volts of energy are released, and during the decay of a uranium nucleus, 200 million electron volts, i.e., 20 million times more.

These discoveries made a sensation in the scientific world: in the history of mankind there was no scientific event more significant in its consequences than the penetration of the atom into the world and the mastery of its energy. Scientists understood that its main purpose was the production of electricity and use in other peaceful areas. With the commissioning in the USSR in 1954 of the world's first industrial nuclear power plant with a capacity of 5 MW, the era of nuclear energy began in Obninsk. The source of electricity production was the fission of uranium nuclei.

The experience of operating the first nuclear power plants has shown the feasibility and reliability of nuclear power technology for industrial power generation. Developed industrial countries have begun designing and building nuclear power plants with reactors of various types. By 1964, the total capacity of nuclear power plants in the world had grown to 5 million kW.

Since that time, the rapid development of nuclear energy has begun, which, making an increasingly significant contribution to the total production of electricity in the world, has become a promising new energy alternative. A boom in orders for the construction of nuclear power plants began in the United States, later in Western Europe, Japan, and the USSR. The growth rate of nuclear energy has reached about 30% per year. Already by 1986, 365 power units with a total installed capacity of 253 million kW were operating at nuclear power plants in the world. In almost 20 years, the capacity of nuclear power plants has increased 50 times. The construction of nuclear power plants was carried out in 30 countries of the world (Fig. 1.1).

By that time, the studies of the Club of Rome, an authoritative community of world-famous scientists, were widely known. The conclusions of the authors of the studies boiled down to the inevitability of a fairly close depletion of natural reserves of organic energy resources, including oil, which are key to the world economy, and their sharp rise in price in the short term. With this in mind, nuclear power came just in time. Potential reserves of nuclear fuel (2 8 U, 2 5 U, 2 2 Th) in the long term solved the vital problem of fuel supply under various scenarios for the development of nuclear energy.

The conditions for the development of nuclear energy were extremely favorable, and the economic performance of nuclear power plants also inspired optimism, nuclear power plants could already successfully compete with thermal power plants.

Nuclear energy made it possible to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels and drastically reduce emissions of pollutants into the environment from TPPs.

The development of nuclear energy was based on the established energy sector of the military-industrial complex - fairly well-developed industrial reactors and reactors for submarines using the nuclear fuel cycle (NFC) already created for these purposes, acquired knowledge and significant experience. Nuclear power, which had huge state support, successfully fit into the existing energy system, taking into account the rules and requirements inherent in this system.

The problem of energy security, aggravated in the 70s of the twentieth century. in connection with the energy crisis caused by a sharp increase in oil prices, the dependence of its supply on the political situation, forced many countries to reconsider their energy programs. The development of nuclear energy, by reducing the consumption of fossil fuels, reduces the energy dependence of countries that do not have or have limited own fuel and energy.

tic resources from their import and strengthens the energy security of these countries.

In the process of rapid development of nuclear energy, of the two main types of nuclear power reactors - thermal and fast neutrons - the most widely used in the world are thermal neutron reactors.

The types and designs of reactors with different moderators and coolants developed by different countries became the basis of national nuclear power. So, in the USA, pressurized water reactors and boiling water reactors became the main ones, in Canada - heavy water reactors on natural uranium, in the former USSR - pressurized water reactors (VVER) and uranium-graphite boiling water reactors (RBMK), the unit power of reactors grew . Thus, the RBMK-1000 reactor with an electric power of 1000 MW was installed at the Leningrad NPP in 1973. The capacity of large nuclear power plants, for example, the Zaporizhzhya NPP (Ukraine), reached 6000 MW.

Given that NPP units operate at almost constant power, covering

NPP "Three Mile Island" (USA)

the basic part of the daily load schedule of the interconnected energy systems, in parallel with nuclear power plants in the world, highly maneuverable pumped storage power plants were built to cover the variable part of the schedule and close the night gap in the load schedule.


The high rates of development of nuclear energy did not correspond to the level of its safety. Based on the experience of operating nuclear power facilities, the growing scientific and technical understanding of the processes and possible consequences, it became necessary to revise the technical requirements, which caused an increase in capital investments and operating costs.

A serious blow to the development of nuclear energy was dealt by a severe accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in the United States in 1979, as well as at a number of other facilities, which led to a radical revision of safety requirements, tightening of existing standards and a revision of nuclear power plant development programs around the world, caused enormous moral and material damage to the nuclear power industry. In the United States, which was the leader in nuclear energy, orders for the construction of nuclear power plants ceased in 1979, and their construction in other countries also decreased.

The most severe accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine in 1986, qualified according to the international scale of nuclear incidents as an accident of the highest level seven and caused an ecological catastrophe over a vast territory, loss of life, resettlement of hundreds of thousands of people, undermined the confidence of the world community in nuclear energy.

“The tragedy in Chernobyl is a warning. And not only in nuclear energy,” said Academician V.A. Legasov, member of the government commission, first deputy academician A.P. Aleksandrov, who headed the Institute of Atomic Energy named after I.V. Kurchatov.

In many countries, programs for the development of nuclear energy were suspended, and in a number of countries, plans for its development that had been outlined earlier were abandoned altogether.

Despite this, by 2000, nuclear power plants operating in 37 countries of the world generated 16% of the world's electricity production.

The unprecedented efforts made to ensure the safety of operating nuclear power plants made it possible at the beginning of the 21st century. restore public confidence in nuclear energy. There comes a time of "renaissance" in its development.

In addition to high economic efficiency and competitiveness, availability of fuel resources, reliability, safety, one of the important factors is that nuclear energy is one of the most environmentally friendly sources of electricity, although the problem of spent fuel disposal remains.

The need for reproduction (breeding) of nuclear fuel became obvious, i.e. the construction of fast neutron reactors (breeders), the introduction of processing of the obtained fuel. The development of this direction had serious economic incentives and prospects, and was carried out in many countries.

In the USSR, the first experimental work on the industrial use of fast neutron reactors was started in

1949, and from the mid-1950s, the commissioning of a series of pilot reactors BR-1, BR-5, BOR-60 (1969) began, in 1973 a dual-purpose nuclear power plant with a reactor with a power 350 MW for the production of electricity and desalination of sea water, in 1980 the industrial reactor BN-600 with a capacity of 600 MW was launched.

An extensive development program in this area was implemented in the United States. In 1966–1972 The experimental reactor "Enrico Fermil" was built, and in 1980 the world's largest research reactor FFTF with a capacity of 400 MW was put into operation. In Germany, the first reactor began operating in 1974, but the high-power SNR-2 reactor that was built was never put into operation. In France, in 1973, the Phenix reactor with a capacity of 250 MW was launched, and in 1986, the Superphenix with a capacity of 1242 MW. In 1977, Japan commissioned the experimental Joyo reactor, and in 1994 the 280 MW Monju reactor.

Under the conditions of the ecological crisis, with which the world community has entered the 21st century, nuclear energy can make a significant contribution to ensuring a reliable power supply, reducing emissions of greenhouse gases and pollutants into the environment.

Nuclear power industry best meets the principles of sustainable development accepted in the world, one of the most important requirements of which is the availability of sufficient fuel and energy resources with their stable consumption in the long term.

In accordance with forecasts based on calculations and modeling of the development of society and the world economy in the 21st century, the dominant role of the electric power industry will continue. By 2030, according to the forecast of the International Energy Agency (IEA), the production of electricity in the world will more than double and exceed 30 trillion. kWh, and according to the forecasts of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in the context of the "renaissance" of nuclear energy, its share will increase to 25% of the world's electricity production, and over the next 15 years, more than 100 new reactors will be built in the world, and the power The nuclear power plant will increase from 370 million kW in 2006 to 679 million kW in 2030.

At present, countries with a high share in the total volume of generated electricity, including the United States, Japan, South Korea, and Finland, are actively developing nuclear energy. France, reorienting the country's electric power industry to nuclear power and continuing to develop it, successfully solved the energy problem for many decades. The share of nuclear power plants in electricity generation in this country reaches 80%. Developing countries with a small share of nuclear power generation are rapidly building nuclear power plants. Thus, India announced its intention to build a nuclear power plant with a capacity of 40 million kW in the long term, and China - more than 100 million kW.

Of the 29 NPP units under construction in 2006, 15 were located in Asia. Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Chile, Thailand, Vietnam, Azerbaijan, Poland, Georgia, Belarus and other countries are planning to commission nuclear power plants for the first time.

Further development of nuclear energy is planned by Russia, which plans to build a nuclear power plant with a capacity of 40 million kW by 2030. In Ukraine, in accordance with the Energy Strategy of Ukraine for the period up to 2030, it is planned to increase the generation of nuclear power plants to 219 billion kWh, while maintaining it at the level of 50% of the total output, and to increase the capacity of nuclear power plants by almost 2 times, bringing it to 29.5 million kW, with an installed capacity utilization factor (ICUF) of 85%, including through the commissioning of new units with a capacity of 1–1.5 million kW and the extension of the operating life of existing NPP units (in 2006 in Ukraine, the capacity of nuclear power plants was 13 .8 million kW with the generation of 90.2 billion kWh of electricity, or about 48.7% of the total generation).

The ongoing work in many countries on the further improvement of thermal and fast neutron reactors will make it possible to further improve their reliability, economic efficiency and environmental safety. At the same time, international cooperation is of great importance. Thus, in the future implementation of the international project GT MSR (gas turbine modular solar-cooled reactor), which is characterized by a high level of safety and competitiveness, minimization of radioactive waste, the efficiency may increase. up to 50%.

Widespread use in the future of a two-component structure of nuclear power, including nuclear power plants with thermal neutron reactors and with fast neutron reactors that reproduce nuclear fuel, will increase the efficiency of using natural uranium and reduce the level of accumulation of radioactive waste.

It should be noted the most important role in the development of nuclear energy of the nuclear fuel cycle (NFC), which is actually its backbone factor. This is due to the following circumstances:

  • The nuclear fuel cycle must be provided with all the necessary structural, technological and design solutions for safe and efficient operation;
  • NFC is a condition for social acceptability and economic efficiency of nuclear power and its wide use;
  • The development of the nuclear fuel cycle will lead to the need to combine the tasks of ensuring the required level of safety of nuclear power plants that generate electricity and minimizing the risks associated with the production of nuclear fuel, including uranium mining, transportation, processing of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and disposal of radioactive waste (a unified system of safety requirements) ;
  • a sharp increase in the production and use of uranium (the initial stage of the NFC) leads to an increase in the risk of natural long-lived radionuclides entering the environment, which requires an increase in fuel efficiency, a reduction in the amount of waste and closing the fuel cycle.

The economic efficiency of NPP operation depends directly on the fuel cycle, including the reduction of time for fuel refueling, the increase in the performance of fuel assemblies (FA). Therefore, the further development and improvement of the nuclear fuel cycle with a high nuclear fuel utilization factor and the creation of a low-waste closed fuel cycle are of great importance.

The energy strategy of Ukraine provides for the development of a national fuel cycle. Thus, uranium production should increase from 0.8 thousand tons to 6.4 thousand tons in 2030, the domestic production of zirconium, zirconium alloys and components for fuel assemblies will be further developed, and in the future, the creation of a closed fuel cycle, as well as participation in international cooperation for the production of nuclear fuel. Ukraine's corporate participation is envisaged in the creation of capacities for the manufacture of fuel assemblies for VVER reactors and in the creation of the International Center for Uranium Enrichment in Russia, Ukraine's entry into the International Nuclear Fuel Bank proposed by the United States.

The availability of fuel for nuclear energy is of paramount importance for the prospects for its development. The current demand for natural uranium in the world is about 60 thousand tons, with total reserves of about 16 million tons.

In the 21st century the role of nuclear energy in ensuring the growing production of electricity in the world with the use of more advanced technologies will sharply increase. Nuclear energy does not yet have a serious competitor in the long term. To implement its development on a large scale, it, as already mentioned, must have the following properties: high efficiency, resource endowment, energy redundancy, safety, and acceptability of environmental impact. The first three requirements can be met using a two-component nuclear power structure consisting of thermal and fast reactors. With such a structure, it is possible to significantly increase the efficiency of using natural uranium, reduce its production, and limit the level of radon entering the biosphere. Ways to achieve the required level of safety and reduce capital costs for reactors of both types are already known, time and money are needed to implement them. By the time society realizes the need for further development of nuclear energy, the technology of a two-component structure will actually be prepared, although much still needs to be done in terms of optimizing nuclear power plants and the structure of the industry, including fuel cycle enterprises.

The level of environmental impact is mainly determined by the amount of radionuclides in the fuel cycle (uranium, plutonium) and in storage (Np, Am, Cm, fission products).

The risk from exposure to short-lived isotopes, such as 1 1 I and 9 0 Sr, l 7 Cs, can be reduced to an acceptable level by improving the safety of nuclear power plants, storage facilities, and fuel cycle enterprises. The acceptability of such a risk can be proven in practice. But it is difficult to prove and impossible to demonstrate the reliability of burial of long-lived actinides and fission products over millions of years.

Undoubtedly, one cannot refuse to search for ways of reliable disposal of radioactive waste, but it is necessary to develop the possibility of using actinides for energy production, i.e. closure of the fuel cycle not only for uranium and plutonium, but also for actinides (Np, Am, Cm, etc.). Transmutation of hazardous long-lived fission products in a system of thermal neutron reactors will complicate the structure of nuclear power engineering due to additional technological processes for the manufacture and processing of nuclear fuel or increase the number of types of nuclear power plants. The introduction of Np, Am, Cm, other actinides and fission products into reactor fuel will complicate their design, require the development of new types of nuclear fuel, and have a negative impact on safety.

In this regard, the possibility of creating a three-component structure of nuclear power engineering, consisting of thermal and fast reactors and reactors for burning Np, Am, Cm and other actinides and transmutation of some fission products, is being considered.

The most important problems are the processing and disposal of radioactive waste, which can be converted into nuclear fuel.

In the first half of the 21st century, mankind will have to make a scientific and technical breakthrough on the way to the development of new types of energy, including electronuclear energy using charged particle accelerators, and, in the long term, thermonuclear energy, which requires international cooperation.


Tianwan NPP is the largest in terms of unit capacity of power units among all NPPs currently under construction in China. Its master plan provides for the possibility of building four power units with a capacity of 1000 MW each. The station is located between Beijing and Shanghai on the coast of the Yellow Sea. Construction work on the site began in 1998. The first power unit of the NPP with a water-cooled power reactor VVER-1000/428 and turbine K-1000-60/3000, launched in May 2006, was put into operation on June 2, 2007, and the second unit of the same type was commissioned on September 12, 2007. At present, both power units of the nuclear power plant operate stably at 100% capacity and supply electricity to the Chinese province of Jiangsu. It is planned to build the third and fourth power units of the Tianwan NPP.