ROSATOM’S SMR PLAY | SMRs & ADVANCED REACTORS


Other designs The Shelf project, developed since 2010 by the Moscow- based NIKIET institute, also part of Rosatom, offers an integral water-water reactor of up to 10 MWe capacity. The entire unit, known as the Shelf-M, is housed in a protected energy capsule, with a six-year fuel campaign and a 60-year operational life.


One of the primary objectives of the developers of the


Shelf-M was to eliminate the need for all nuclear-specific and radiation-hazardous operations at the site of the plant to the greatest extent possible. Thanks to its integral design and transportability, that objective has been achieved. The reactor requires a very small operating crew with no exposure to radiation-related works. The Shelf-M module is manufactured, assembled, and tested at a factory, after which it will be transported to the customer as a sealed capsule with the fuel already loaded. There will be no refuelling outages and in situ refuelling since for refuelling, the module will be replaced by another module, fully loaded with fresh fuel, while the existing module is returned to a specialised facility. Future modifications of Shelf-M will also include the option of fully remote satellite operation control with no operating personnel present on site. The small capacity of Shelf-M defines its consumer base.


Primarily, it is intended for remote and hard-to-reach areas with decentralised power supply, such as off-grid industrial sites currently powered with diesel generators, as well as mini- and micro grids for remote communities. In Russia, the first Shelf-M is expected to be operational by 2030 in Chukotka to provide electricity to the Sovinoye gold mine with four more Russian mining site projects in the pipeline. Unlike the RITM and ‘Shelf’ series, the SVBR-100 reactor uses a lead-bismuth eutectic mixture as the coolant. A fundamental advantage of the lead-bismuth coolant is the absence of a large accumulation of potential energy, which, in certain scenarios, could cause the destruction of a nuclear reactor’s protective barriers. Additionally, unlike PWRs, the SVBR-100 does not have any internal pressure, meaning there are no internal forces capable of causing structural damage. Finally, the exclusion of water means that under no circumstances will explosive gaseous hydrogen be generated in the SVBR-100. The design utilises operational data gained from


the operation of the Soviet Lyra-class submarines that also used lead-bismuth reactors. For the SVBR- 100, the outlet temperature is set to be below 500°C. However, in subsequent projects, the temperature will be significantly increased, enabling the SVBR-100 reactors to generate process heat of 500-700°C, suitable for higher temperature industrial needs such as petroleum refining and methanol synthesis. For applications requiring very high temperatures, such as steam methane reforming for hydrogen production, Rosatom is developing a series of high-temperature gas-cooled reactors. These reactors have outlet temperatures starting from 800°C and, in later modifications, this will rise to over 1,000°C. Although the heat from the reactors themselves would not be suitable for some industrial applications their use could be further extended to on-site hydrogen supply for sectors such as steelmaking, cement, and glass manufacturing, which require temperatures above 1,200°C. Additionally, Rosatom is also working on a mobile


microreactor to be deployed in the early 2030s. One of these projects is the GREM microreactor which is being


developed by NIKIET institute in conjunction with other Rosatom’s design bureaus and research labs. GREM is being designed as a single-circuit power unit featuring a high- temperature fast gas-cooled reactor and a closed-cycle gas turbine with a cogeneration heat exchanger and an air-end cooler, boasting a power of 2.5 MWth and approximately 1 MWe. Its core is based on nanostructured carbonitride fuel, developed as part of the Russian space energy development programme. This design will allow the reactor to operate in a capsule format for 20–25 years without fuel reloading.


Rosatom’s portfolio plans Rosatom and its predecessor companies have accumulated extensive experience in small-capacity nuclear power, going back to the Soviet era and its broad range of the research and engineering developments. In addition to reactor installations on icebreakers and submarines, a number of small capacity nuclear power plants and reactors have already been developed and operated to supply electricity and heat for remote sites and communities. In Chukotka, for example, the Bilibino Nuclear Power Plant with four EGP-6 reactors, each with a capacity of 11 MWe, has been successfully operating for nearly 50 years. In Kazakhstan, the BN-350 fast-neutron reactor with an actual capacity of 150 MWe supplied electricity, heat, and fresh water to the city of Aktau. Russian nuclear engineers have also developed a wide range of microreactor models for space and defence needs. Capitalising on this heritage, Rosatom considers the SMR segment one of its priorities and is committing significant resources, both human and financial, to developing a full product portfolio for complex ‘one-stop-shop’ energy transition solutions. This portfolio strategy would make Rosatom the only nuclear vendor in the world capable of meeting demand for plants from under 1 MWe to several GWe of capacity. ■


Top: A 55 MW RITM-200N reactor for low-capacity land-based nuclear power plant Above: The Akademik Lomonosov floating power plant, here seen in Murmansk, features a PWR reactor using HALEU fuel


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