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Obninsk Nuclear Power Plant (; ) was built in the " Science City" of Obninsk,Nuclear Engineering International: Obninsk - number one, by Lev Kotchetkov
, who was there at the time. Source for most of the information in this article.
Kaluga Oblast Kaluga Oblast () is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Kaluga. The Russian Census (2021), 2021 Russian Census found a population o ...
, about southwest of
Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
,
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
. Connected to the
power grid ''Power Grid'' is the English-language version of the second edition of the multiplayer German-style board game ''Funkenschlag'', designed by Friedemann Friese and first released in 2004. ''Power Grid'' was released by Rio Grande Games. I ...
in June 1954, Obninsk was the first grid-connected
nuclear power plant A nuclear power plant (NPP), also known as a nuclear power station (NPS), nuclear generating station (NGS) or atomic power station (APS) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power st ...
in the world, i.e. the first nuclear reactor that produced electricity industrially, albeit at small scale. It was located at the Institute of Physics and Power Engineering. The plant is also known as APS-1 Obninsk (Atomic Power Station 1 Obninsk). It remained in operation between 1954 and 2002. Its production of electricity for the grid ceased in 2002; thereafter it functioned as a research and
isotope Isotopes are distinct nuclear species (or ''nuclides'') of the same chemical element. They have the same atomic number (number of protons in their Atomic nucleus, nuclei) and position in the periodic table (and hence belong to the same chemica ...
production plant only. According to Lev Kotchetkov, who was there at the time: "Although utilisation of generated heat was going on, and production of isotopes was even enhanced, the main task was to carry out experimental studies on 17 test loops installed in the reactor." The technology perfected in the Obninsk pilot plant was later employed on a much larger scale in the RBMK reactors.


Design

The single reactor unit at the plant, ''AM-1'' ("", ''Atom Mirny'', Russian for " Peaceful Atom"), had a total electrical capacity of 6 MW and a net capacity of around 5 MWe. Thermal output was 30 MW. It was a prototype design using a graphite moderator and water coolant. This reactor was a forerunner of the RBMK reactors. The Obninsk reactor used 5% enriched uranium; this percentage would be lowered for subsequent reactors.


History

Construction started on 31 December 1950. First criticality was achieved on 2 May 1954, and the first grid connection was made on 27 June 1954. For around four years, until the opening of the Siberian Nuclear Power Station, Obninsk remained the only nuclear power reactor in the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
; the power plant remained active until 29 April 2002 when it was finally shut down. According to Kotchetkov, in its 48 years of operation there were no significant incidents resulting in personnel overdose or mortality, or radioactive release to the environment exceeding permissible limits. The next Soviet nuclear power plant to be connected to their grid was Beloyarsk Unit 1 in 1964 with a capacity of 100 MWe.


See also

* BORAX III was briefly connected to the US power grid in 1955 *
Experimental Breeder Reactor I Experimental Breeder Reactor I (EBR-I) is a decommissioned research reactor and U.S. National Historic Landmark located in the desert about southeast of Arco, Idaho. It was the world's first breeder reactor. At 1:50 p.m. on December 2 ...
– World's first nuclear power plant (powered its own building, but was not grid-connected) * F-1 (nuclear reactor) (the Soviet equivalent of Chicago Pile 1) * Magnox reactor prototypes at Calder Hall (1956) produced electricity although their main purpose was plutonium production * Nuclear power in Russia * Shippingport Atomic Power Station (1957) with 60 MWe power; it is described by the US government as the first full-scale nuclear power plant


References


Further reading

* Contains a more detailed account of the reactor's construction and early operational history.


External links

{{Authority control Atomic tourism Buildings and structures in Kaluga Oblast Former nuclear power stations in Russia Nuclear power stations built in the Soviet Union Nuclear power stations using RBMK reactors Obninsk Cultural heritage monuments of regional significance in Kaluga Oblast