Today and tomorrow, domestic nuclear scientists
It so happened that after the high-profile events, there are long and emotional discussions not only of what happened, but of everything connected with it. For example, last year, after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, when, to put it mildly, problems began at the Fukushima nuclear power station-1, voices began again, calling for the abandonment of nuclear power. I must say, such statements were already after the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, but then basically the matter ended.
In the “information trail” of the Fukushima events, Berlin announced the termination of the operation of nuclear power plants. The meticulous economists quickly calculated the consequences of this step, and they had a figure of half a trillion euros in various losses. For ordinary Germans, all this resulted in an increase in electricity tariffs - in some regions twice. But glad France and the Czech Republic. The fact is that German non-nuclear power plants simply can not cope with the supply of their own country, so Germany has to buy considerable amounts of electricity from neighboring countries. And yet, despite the financial problems, Germany refuses to nuclear power plants. And what about Russia? Russia is not going to do the same. On the contrary, building new reactors for peaceful purposes. In December last year, the fourth power unit of the Kalinin NPP with a VVER-1000 reactor (power 1000 MW) was commissioned. Here it will be useful to mention the monetary return of the power unit - more than 400 million rubles of taxes per year for the region and almost nine million directly to the Udomlya district in which the station is located. And in the long run, in the 2016 year, it is planned to commission the Baltic NPP. So, perhaps, Germany will begin to buy Russian electricity.
News and plans, of course, are good, but nuclear scientists have problems. In 2008, there was information about insufficient uranium mining in our country. It was argued that with 45% of the enrichment market for this metal, only 6-7% of the world total is mined. By themselves, these figures do not look intriguing or frightening - for their understanding it is necessary to take into account possible political risks. Any country supplying us with uranium for processing may terminate the contract. In this case, Russian production facilities may remain without work, and domestic NPPs may be without fuel. Bad prospect. To this end, the state corporation Rosatom, together with the Ministry of Natural Resources, launched a very real campaign to find, study and register deposits. Not all of them are convenient for mining, for example, in Transbaikalia a considerable share of deposits requires the construction of mines with a depth of one kilometer. Nevertheless, the relevant work was carried out and the proven reserves of uranium ore in Russia increased almost six times. In addition, Rosatom has arranged a real expansion outside the country. JSC Atomredmetzoloto (a Russian uranium mining company, almost 80% of its shares belong to JSC Atomenergoprom, which, in turn, is wholly owned by Rosatom) in 2010 acquired the controlling stake in Canadian uranium company Uranium One, and in 2011, 100% shares Mantra Resources Limited, which allows the Russian company to participate in the development of Tanzanian fields. Finally, one fifth of the deposits located in the USA directly or indirectly belong to Russia. After all, the former potential opponent, what is not a reason for pride? It is worth saying that quite a few experts believe that the global financial crisis contributed to the purchase of foreign companies, because of which there was a good opportunity to acquire useful foreign companies.
However, investments in foreign uranium mining firms are inexpedient without the prospects of the entire nuclear industry. Domestic processing plants to meet the needs of all existing and under construction of Russian nuclear power plants is enough to receive "only" 5-5,5 thousand tons of uranium raw materials. The rest of the currently consumed 16 thousand tons used for the manufacture of export products. In addition, we should expect growth in global consumption. Whatever various ecological organizations would say, nuclear energy as a result turns out to be much more efficient, more economical and, if all the norms of exploitation are observed, cleaner. So, from one kilogram of coal "goes" up to seven kilowatt-hours. One kilogram of natural gas is capable of producing up to 15 kWh. In turn, a kilo of uranium in an average modern reactor helps produce up to 120 thousand kWh. And in the future, the expense of electricity generated can go to millions of kilowatts. It is only necessary to closely monitor the development, construction and operation of reactors.
In addition to fuel issues, Rosatom is now engaged in uranium “consumers”. At the moment, surveys are underway on several topics in the field of promising reactors. The most famous of them is VVER-TOI (Water-to-Water Power Reactor, typical optimized and informatized). In the course of this project, a typical reactor is created with a lifetime of 60 years and a thermal capacity of more than 1300 MW. The maximum magnitude of the earthquake that VVER-TOI must withstand is 8-9. In 2012, it is planned to complete the design work and prepare a complete package of relevant documentation. An interesting fact is that the project for the first time in stories Our atomic industry is being developed by the Mutli-D system. This means that the fourth (materials, equipment, components and assemblies), the fifth (schedule) and the sixth (the actual work) "measurements" are superimposed on the three-dimensional drawings. Moreover, all project materials are available at the same time to all project participants — from designers to foremen at a construction site, and all changes simultaneously reach all. Another promising project in the nuclear energy sphere is considered to be fast neutron reactors. Such facilities are already in operation, for example, BN-600 with sodium coolant at the Beloyarsk NPP.
Since 2010, work is underway to complete the construction of a floating nuclear power plant. This design will allow to supply electricity to areas in which it is difficult to deliver electricity by traditional methods. However, this project is unlikely to become as massive as the usual "land" nuclear power plants. At the moment, only a couple of potential customers have shown their interest in the floating power plant. Not much, but according to Rosatom, after the introduction of the first floating NPP, the number of customers should increase. As for the projects of even more mobile nuclear power plants, for example, household generators or power plants for transport, there is no serious work in this area. But in the future it is possible to resume work on nuclear installations with the possibility of transportation from place to place. Already there is a project of the Angstrom nuclear power plant, created in OKB Gidropress. Whether Rosatom will support this project is unknown.
As can be seen, the domestic nuclear industry continues to develop, moreover, it conducts a systematic expansion into the international market. For the time being, the main export item is fuel cells for power plants, but in the future we cannot exclude the supply of ready-made reactors.
In the “information trail” of the Fukushima events, Berlin announced the termination of the operation of nuclear power plants. The meticulous economists quickly calculated the consequences of this step, and they had a figure of half a trillion euros in various losses. For ordinary Germans, all this resulted in an increase in electricity tariffs - in some regions twice. But glad France and the Czech Republic. The fact is that German non-nuclear power plants simply can not cope with the supply of their own country, so Germany has to buy considerable amounts of electricity from neighboring countries. And yet, despite the financial problems, Germany refuses to nuclear power plants. And what about Russia? Russia is not going to do the same. On the contrary, building new reactors for peaceful purposes. In December last year, the fourth power unit of the Kalinin NPP with a VVER-1000 reactor (power 1000 MW) was commissioned. Here it will be useful to mention the monetary return of the power unit - more than 400 million rubles of taxes per year for the region and almost nine million directly to the Udomlya district in which the station is located. And in the long run, in the 2016 year, it is planned to commission the Baltic NPP. So, perhaps, Germany will begin to buy Russian electricity.
News and plans, of course, are good, but nuclear scientists have problems. In 2008, there was information about insufficient uranium mining in our country. It was argued that with 45% of the enrichment market for this metal, only 6-7% of the world total is mined. By themselves, these figures do not look intriguing or frightening - for their understanding it is necessary to take into account possible political risks. Any country supplying us with uranium for processing may terminate the contract. In this case, Russian production facilities may remain without work, and domestic NPPs may be without fuel. Bad prospect. To this end, the state corporation Rosatom, together with the Ministry of Natural Resources, launched a very real campaign to find, study and register deposits. Not all of them are convenient for mining, for example, in Transbaikalia a considerable share of deposits requires the construction of mines with a depth of one kilometer. Nevertheless, the relevant work was carried out and the proven reserves of uranium ore in Russia increased almost six times. In addition, Rosatom has arranged a real expansion outside the country. JSC Atomredmetzoloto (a Russian uranium mining company, almost 80% of its shares belong to JSC Atomenergoprom, which, in turn, is wholly owned by Rosatom) in 2010 acquired the controlling stake in Canadian uranium company Uranium One, and in 2011, 100% shares Mantra Resources Limited, which allows the Russian company to participate in the development of Tanzanian fields. Finally, one fifth of the deposits located in the USA directly or indirectly belong to Russia. After all, the former potential opponent, what is not a reason for pride? It is worth saying that quite a few experts believe that the global financial crisis contributed to the purchase of foreign companies, because of which there was a good opportunity to acquire useful foreign companies.
However, investments in foreign uranium mining firms are inexpedient without the prospects of the entire nuclear industry. Domestic processing plants to meet the needs of all existing and under construction of Russian nuclear power plants is enough to receive "only" 5-5,5 thousand tons of uranium raw materials. The rest of the currently consumed 16 thousand tons used for the manufacture of export products. In addition, we should expect growth in global consumption. Whatever various ecological organizations would say, nuclear energy as a result turns out to be much more efficient, more economical and, if all the norms of exploitation are observed, cleaner. So, from one kilogram of coal "goes" up to seven kilowatt-hours. One kilogram of natural gas is capable of producing up to 15 kWh. In turn, a kilo of uranium in an average modern reactor helps produce up to 120 thousand kWh. And in the future, the expense of electricity generated can go to millions of kilowatts. It is only necessary to closely monitor the development, construction and operation of reactors.
In addition to fuel issues, Rosatom is now engaged in uranium “consumers”. At the moment, surveys are underway on several topics in the field of promising reactors. The most famous of them is VVER-TOI (Water-to-Water Power Reactor, typical optimized and informatized). In the course of this project, a typical reactor is created with a lifetime of 60 years and a thermal capacity of more than 1300 MW. The maximum magnitude of the earthquake that VVER-TOI must withstand is 8-9. In 2012, it is planned to complete the design work and prepare a complete package of relevant documentation. An interesting fact is that the project for the first time in stories Our atomic industry is being developed by the Mutli-D system. This means that the fourth (materials, equipment, components and assemblies), the fifth (schedule) and the sixth (the actual work) "measurements" are superimposed on the three-dimensional drawings. Moreover, all project materials are available at the same time to all project participants — from designers to foremen at a construction site, and all changes simultaneously reach all. Another promising project in the nuclear energy sphere is considered to be fast neutron reactors. Such facilities are already in operation, for example, BN-600 with sodium coolant at the Beloyarsk NPP.
Since 2010, work is underway to complete the construction of a floating nuclear power plant. This design will allow to supply electricity to areas in which it is difficult to deliver electricity by traditional methods. However, this project is unlikely to become as massive as the usual "land" nuclear power plants. At the moment, only a couple of potential customers have shown their interest in the floating power plant. Not much, but according to Rosatom, after the introduction of the first floating NPP, the number of customers should increase. As for the projects of even more mobile nuclear power plants, for example, household generators or power plants for transport, there is no serious work in this area. But in the future it is possible to resume work on nuclear installations with the possibility of transportation from place to place. Already there is a project of the Angstrom nuclear power plant, created in OKB Gidropress. Whether Rosatom will support this project is unknown.
As can be seen, the domestic nuclear industry continues to develop, moreover, it conducts a systematic expansion into the international market. For the time being, the main export item is fuel cells for power plants, but in the future we cannot exclude the supply of ready-made reactors.
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