The third and final tier of the reactor enclosing structure for Russia’s demonstration Brest-OD-300 lead-cooled fast reactor has been installed in the reactor shaft at the construction site in Seversk, Tomsk Region. Its weight with rigging equipment is 164 tonnes. This is an additional protective barrier for the reactor plant.
The Brest-OD-300 reactor is part of the pilot demonstration power complex (ODEK – Opitno Demonstratsionovo Energo-Kompleksa), which is being developed at SCC in Seversk under the Breakthrough (Proryv) project intended to demonstrate closed fuel cycle technology.
Brest (Bistrii Reaktor Estestvennoi-bezopasnosti co Svinstovim Teplonositelem – Fast Natural-safety Reactor with Lead Coolant) is a Generation IV 300 MWe power unit. It is supported by a module for the production of mixed dense nitride uranium-plutonium (SNUP) fuel, as well as a module for reprocessing irradiated fuel. SNUP fuel is based on two key components – depleted uranium, which is a by-product of uranium enrichment for nuclear reactors, and plutonium, extracted from irradiated nuclear fuel.
The reactor housing consists of three mounting blocks installed in the reactor shaft. The total weight of the structure is 429 tonnes and its height is 17 metres. After connecting the third and second tiers of the housing, installers will assemble the pipelines of the cooling system, drying system and intermediate shell. Then the cavity of the housing will be filled with heat-resistant concrete.
The structure is the outer part of the reactor vessel. It ensures the retention of heat-insulating concrete and forms an additional localising barrier of protection that follows the boundary of the coolant circuit. During operation of the reactor, the temperature on its surface will not exceed 60 degrees, and the background radiation will be normal.
