OBNINSK, June 26 (RIA Novosti) – A controlled nuclear chain reaction is about to be launched at a new reactor at Russia’s Beloyarsk Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) in the Urals, a senior official at the country’s Rosatom nuclear agency said Thursday.
“The launch [of the reaction] will take place today,” Rosatom’s First Deputy General Director Alexander Lokshin said. The operation is the most crucial moment in preparations for the launch of the new nuclear reactor.
The fast-neutron BN-800 is the fourth reactor to go into operation at Beloyarsk NPP. The reactor uses a liquid metal heat-transfer agent as a coolant and has been designed as a prototype for nuclear power engineering of the future.
Russia is the global leader in fast-neutron reactors that use liquid metal coolants. The design is intended to improve the country’s nuclear fuel self-sufficiency by creating a closed-loop cycle.
