The concrete plant has begun operation at the construction site of the Brest-OD-300 reactor at the Siberian Chemical Combine (SCC) in Seversk. The plant it can produce up to 130 cubic metres of concrete per hour. The Brest fast neutron reactor is part of the pilot demonstration power complex (ODEK) facility which SCC has been responsible for implementing since 2011 as part of the Breakthrough (Proryv) project intended to demonstrate closed fuel cycle technology.
ODEK will also include a module for fabrication and refabrication of nuclear fuel and a module for reprocessing irradiated fuel. The fuel fabrication module is almost complete. Construction of Brest, which will be the world’s first reactor to use liquid lead as a coolant, began in 2021 and Brest and the steel plate base of the reactor was delivered to the site in September 2022.
Special heat-resistant concrete is needed for the construction of Brest. The concrete will be used to fill the space between the walls of the pyramid of metal rings, which will support the first layer of the reactor containment.
Image courtesy of Rosatom
