goingcritical:bn-350-aktauKazakhstan · Power reactor
BN-350 (Shevchenko / Aktau)
Status: Shut down reached first criticality 1972 Reactor status full glossary → Announced Publicly announced — a site and design are proposed, but construction has not begun. Site preparation Early site and civil works are under way; the first safety-related ("nuclear") concrete has not yet been poured. Under construction Formal construction has begun, marked by the first nuclear concrete. Fuel loaded Nuclear fuel has been loaded into the core. The reactor is fuelled but has not yet gone critical. Critical Has reached first criticality — a self-sustaining chain reaction, usually at low power — but is not yet connected to the grid. Grid connected Synchronised to the electrical grid and exporting power for the first time, but still in commissioning and power-ascension testing — not yet in commercial service. In commercial operation — the operator has formally declared the unit in regular commercial service. Shut down Permanently shut down and no longer generating; may be defuelled, undergoing decommissioning, or preserved in place. Canceled Abandoned before completion.
Site: Aktau (formerly Shevchenko), Mangystau, Caspian Sea shore
Pioneering sodium-cooled fast-breeder reactor and the world's first to combine power generation with large-scale seawater desalination (up to ~120,000 m3/day of fresh water). Permanently shut down 22 April 1999. Design output ~350 MWt split between electricity, heat, and desalination.
Details
| Design | BN-350 sodium-cooled fast reactor |
| Electrical output | 135 MWe |
Milestone history
- Announced —
- Construction start 1964
- Fuel load —
- First criticality 1972
- Grid connection 1973
- Commercial operation July 16, 1973