Industrial (weapons, isotope, military) reactors - are used to produce isotopes used in various fields (weapons, medicine, industry). The most widely used for the production of nuclear weapons materials. To prom. reactors also include reactors specially designed for producing tritium, a component of thermonuclear weapons.
A reactor which, as a by-product, can heat housing, desalinate water or generate electricity is a dual - purpose reactor . In the USA, prom. the reactors were used for only one purpose.
Content
Operation
To get enough plutonium, intense neutron fluxes are needed. In principle, any nuclear reactor is a source of neutrons, but for industrial production of plutonium, specially designed for this is used. Military reactors are subject to such requirements as:
- high reproduction rate of fissile material;
- high energy intensity (energy density per volume of the reactor zone);
- short plutonium doubling time. The production of weapons-based radionuclides and expanded fuel reproduction is carried out at conversion reactors and breeder reactors.
Historically, the first industrial plutonium-producing reactors were ducted thermal neutron reactors with a graphite moderator and direct flow-through water cooling (abbreviated as PUGR - an industrial uranium-graphite reactor).
The first versions of the reactors were uranium-graphite and had flow cooling, which over time was changed to closed ones on new reactors (in the USSR from the ADE-3 reactor , 1961).
Industrial Reactors
The world's first industrial plutonium production reactor was the uranium-graphite reactor B in Hanford (USA) using thermal neutrons. He earned September 26, 1944, power - 250 MW, productivity - 6 kg of plutonium per month. It contained about 200 tons of metallic natural uranium, 1200 tons of graphite and was cooled with water at a speed of 5 cubic meters / min, contained 2002 channels located horizontally. Plutonium-239 for the Fat Man bomb dropped on Nagasaki was developed at this reactor. Stopped in February 1968.
LIGHTWATER REACTORS
US Reactors
| Reactor | Beginning of work | End of work | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| B | September 1944 | February 1968 | Hanford |
| D | December 1944 | June 1967 | |
| F | February 1945 | June 1965 | |
| H | October 1949 | April 1965 | |
| DR | October 1950 | December 1954 | |
| C | November 1952 | April 1969 | |
| Kw | January 1955 | February 1970 | |
| Ke | April 1955 | January 1971 | |
| N | December 1963 | January 1987 | |
| R | December 1953 | June 1964 | Savannah river |
| P | February 1954 | August 1988 | |
| K | October 1954 | July 1992 | |
| L | July 1954 | June 1988 | |
| C | March 1955 | June 1988 |
Reactors of the USSR / Russia
In the USSR, the first industrial reactor A-1 (Annushka) with a capacity of 100 MW was launched on 05/19/1948 in Chelyabinsk-40
| Reactor | Beginning of work | End of work | Power | Harvested, tons | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A (A-1) | 1948 | 1987 | 100/900 | 6.5 | PO "Mayak", Ozersk |
| AI * | 1951 | 1987 | 50/500 | 3.4 | |
| AB-1 | 1950 | 1989 | 300/1200 | 8.9 | |
| AB-2 | 1951 | 1990 | 300/1200 | 9.0 | |
| AB-3 | 1952 | 1991 | 300/1200 | 6.3 | |
| HELL | 1958 | 1992 | 1600/1900 | 13.5 | MCC Zheleznogorsk city |
| ADE-1 | 1961 | 1992 | 1600/1900 | 12.3 | |
| ADE-2 | 1964 | 2010 | 1600/1900 | 18.2 | |
| I-1 | 1955 | 1989 | 600/1200 | 8.5 | SCK, Seversk |
| EI-2 (reactor) (I-2) | 1958 | 1990 | 600/1200 | 8.2 | |
| ADE-3 | 1961 | 1992 | 1600/1900 | 11.9 | |
| ADE-4 | 1964 | 2008 | 1600/1900 | 17.7 | |
| ADE-5 | 1965 | 2008 | 1600/1900 | 17.1 [1] |
* AI - A Isotopic Reactor, modified to produce tritium for Thermonuclear. bombs ("puff" of Sakharov) RDS-6.
HEAVY REACTORS
Reactors of the USSR / Russia
| Reactor | Beginning of work | End of work |
|---|---|---|
| OK-180 | October 17, 1951 | 03/03/1966 |
| OK-190 | December 27, 1955 | 10/10/1965 |
| OK-190M | - April 1966 | 04/16/86 |
| IRZHAN (LF-2) * | December 30, 1987 [2] | in work |
* L-F2 - “light”, on “Field pipes”, “second modification”.
The OK-190M reactor already allowed, in addition to plutonium, to obtain various radioactive isotopes used in the national economy and exported.
WATER-WATER REACTORS
Reactors of the USSR / Russia
The Ruslan reactor has been used to produce tritium and isotopes since June 18, 1979. It was designed and constructed as an alternative to heavy water reactors.
FAST NEUTRON REACTORS
Reactors of the USSR / Russia
| Reactor | Beginning of work | End of work | Power, mv |
|---|---|---|---|
| BR-2 | 1956 | 1957 | 2 |
| BR-5 (reactor) | 1959 | 1973 | five |
| BR-10 ( BR-5 (reactor) after reconstruction) | 1973 | 2002 | ten |
| BOR-60 | 1968 | 2020 | 60 |
| MBIR | 2020 | 150 |
Tritium
In Russia, in addition to the AI reactor, tritium was produced at the AV-3 reactor, and then at heavy water reactors (OK-180 reactor, Tamara, etc.) and at the Ruslan reactor.
In the USA, tritium was first produced at uranium-graphite reactors in Hanford, but then switched to heavy water reactors.
Notes
- ↑ Military reactors. . www.economics.kiev.ua. Date of treatment July 6, 2017.
- ↑ Chapter 2 . ozmayak.narod.ru. Date of treatment July 6, 2017.