Specialists in Russia's nuclear industry are working on creating an innovative water-cooled nuclear reactor for use in 600 MW power units.
In early spring 2025, tests began to determine the neutron-physical parameters of the core of the future reactor, named VVER-S. The tests are being conducted at the State Scientific Center – Leypunsky Institute for Physics and Power Engineering.
It has also become known that the development of VVER-S is part of a larger project to create a line of thermal water-cooled reactors operating on MOX fuel.
As part of the "Kola NPP-2" project in the Murmansk region, it is planned to build the first power units with VVER-S reactors. Today, the existing Kola NPP consists of four power units with VVER reactors with a capacity of 440 MW each. They were commissioned between 1973 and 1984. These power units will be decommissioned in the 2030s.
To replace the existing power units, a new Kola NPP-2 will be built with VVER-S reactors with a capacity of 600 MW each. In total, it is planned to build three or four such reactors.
Currently, the VVER-S reactor plant is being developed, and technological solutions are being actively tested. In 2023, studies of the neutron-physical parameters of the core of the new reactor plant were started, and they have already passed two stages.
What is the key difference between the new reactor and its predecessors?
This reactor uses spectral regulation, which allows changing the reactivity margin of the core during fuel burnup. This is achieved by changing the water-to-fuel ratio and completely abandoning liquid boron regulation.
With this approach, excess neutrons are absorbed by uranium-238 nuclei, which leads to the formation of plutonium-239. This allows extending the fuel campaign, increasing the capacity utilization factor (CUF), and improving the economic performance of the reactor.
VVER-S should become the world's first light-water reactor to use a core completely filled with MOX fuel. This will significantly reduce the consumption of natural uranium.
Currently, MOX fuel in Russia is produced only for fast neutron reactors. The BN-800, the most powerful reactor of this type in the world, installed at Unit No. 4 of the Beloyarsk NPP, operates on it.
The service life of the new nuclear power units will be at least 60 years. In the mid-2030s, the first 600 MW VVER-S power unit will be launched.
Earlier, Rosatom gave the start to the construction of power unit No. 8 at the Leningrad NPP. Earlier www1.ru reported that the "machine vision" system began to monitor the work of employees at the Leningrad NPP.
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