The first stage of concreting the foundation of the turbine and generator of Russia’s BREST-OD-300 lead-cooled fast reactor has been completed. completed. The reactor is under construction at the Siberian Chemical Combine (SKhK – Sibirskovo Khimicheskovo Kombinata) in Seversk, Tomsk region as part of the pilot demonstration power complex (ODEK – Opitno Demonstratsionovo Energo-Kompleksa).
Builders laid 578 cubic metres of heavy concrete. By using 36 spring vibration-isolating elements, a reliable base will reduce the vibration load from the turbine unit on foundation columns and other technological equipment. Within two weeks, the concrete will gain the necessary strength, after which the installers will begin the next stage – installation of turbine and generator support plates.
In the autumn, after the concrete gains the required strength, builders plan to begin installing the main power equipment – the turbine and generator with an electrical capacity of 300 MWe.
Meanwhile, construction continues of the nuclear island. By the end of 2025, builders had installed the shell of the central cavity of the reactor plant, where the core will be located, as well as the shells of the peripheral cavity for steam generators and lead coolant circulation pumps. In the near future, the space between the cavities will be filled with special heat-resistant concrete, which will ensure the structural strength of the boundary of the primary coolant circuit and create reliable thermal and radiation protection of the power unit.
The BREST-OD-300, being built under the Breakthrough (Proryv) Project, is intended to demonstrate closed fuel cycle technology. As well as BREST, ODEK also includes on-site nuclear fuel cycle facilities including a module for fuel fabrication and refabrication and a module for reprocessing and recycling irradiated fuel. The fuel fabrication unit began operation in December 2024.
Completion of work to assemble the reactor vessel is scheduled for the end of 2026. Rosatom originally planned to launch the reactor in 2026. However, additional research and development work was required, and the launch has now been postponed to 2029.
In the future, Rosatom intends to scale up the Brest-OD-300 reactor unit to the BR-1200 with a capacity of 1,200 MWe. According to Russia’s plans for power generation facilities to 2042, eight units with BR-1200 reactors are to be built at new sites – two at the Reftinskaya NPP (Sverdlovsk Region), two at the Yuzhnouralskaya NPP (Chelyabinsk Region), two at the Severskaya NPP, and two at the Siberian NPP (Irkutsk Region). In addition, around 2035, Rosatom expects to prepare an export version of these Gen IV power complexes.
