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ENERGY + ENVIROFICIENCY
in Finland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary amongst other
countries.
NPPs designed according to VVER-1000 technology were built in
Russia (units 1 - 4 of Balakovo NPP, units 1 - 4 of Kalinin NPP, unit 5 of
Novovoronezh NPP and units 1 - 2 of Rostov NPP), in Bulgaria (units
5 - 6 of NPP Kozloduy), in Ukraine (units 1 - 3 of NPP South Ukraine,
units 3 - 4 of NPP Rovno, units 1 - 6 of NPP Zaporozhe and units 1 - 2
of NPP Khmelnitski), in Czech Republic (units 1-2 of NPP Temelin),
India (units 1 - 2 of NPP Kudankulam), Iran (unit 1 of NPP Bushehr),
China (units 3 - 4 of NPP Tianwan).
NPPs designed according to the project ‘NPP-2006’ are currently
under construction in Russia, Belarus, and Turkey and are expected
to be constructed in Finland and Hungary.
The project has more capacity due to the increased capacity of the
power units (not less than 1 150 MWwith the possibility of increasing
up to 1 200 MW), which will reduce capital and operating costs, as
well increase economic efficiency of the project.
In addition to greater capacity, the project includes a combina-
tion of active and passive safety features: active safety systems are
able to function when at least one of the alternative power sources
is available.
Passive systems are able to function independently, without
power, and without human intervention. The project also provides
resistance to the design basis and beyond design basis accidents,
calculated on a full-featured simulator — mathematical model of a
virtual power unit.
The main principles underpinning the AES-2006 design are: Maxi-
mum use of proven technologies; minimum cost and construction
Generation III+
VVER
nuclear reactors
By D E Kolchinsky, A V Molchanov, V V Bezlepkin, A M Altshuller (St Petersburg Atomenergoproekt
(a branch of VNIPIET)), Russia, and Ryan Collyer, Rosatom South Africa
The common name for the Water-Water Energetic Reactor (VVER) is Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR).
It is the most widely used nuclear power reactor technology in the world today.
V
VER (Water-Water Energetic Reactor) is one of the most suc-
cessful and influential branches of nuclear power plant develop-
ment, and the technology is widely distributed throughout the
world. VVER technology was developed in house by OKB Gidropress,
a research division of global nuclear company Rosatom, while the
nuclear power plant projects using this technology were implemented
by three engineering organisations of this company – Atomenergo-
proekt in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Nizhny Novgorod. However,
the Russian VVER reactor and the materials used for its construction
differ significantly from other PWR reactors. The main features of the
VVER are as follows:
• Use of horizontal steam generators, which reduces the risk of
corrosion and malfunction, facilitates repair and maintenance
and ultimately reduces costs
• Use of hexagonal fuel assemblies, which increase the technical
and economic characteristics of the fuel by increasing the duration
of the campaign and the introduction of extended fuel cycles
• Preventing the release of fission products outside the sub-reactor
cavity, based on completely independent systems and taking
into account all requirements of the IAEA, including the ‘post-
Fukushima’ standard SSR-2.1
• High-power pressure compensation system, ensuring a long, safe
and failure free operation steam-generating unit
Fifty years’ experience has been accumulated through the successful
operation of NPPs using VVER technology and a total of over 1 400
reactor years have been achieved. Nuclear power plants with VVER-
type reactors are built with the participation of Russian specialists
Electricity+Control
August ‘15
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