Obninsk Nuclear Power Plant
Encyclopedia
Obninsk Nuclear Power
Station, , was built in the "Science City" of Obninsk
, about 110 km southwest of Moscow
. It was the first civilian nuclear power station in the world. The plant is also known as APS-1 Obninsk (Atomic Power Station 1 Obninsk).
reactors.
; the power plant remained active until April 29, 2002 when it was finally shut down.
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
Station, , was built in the "Science City" of Obninsk
Obninsk
Obninsk is a city in Kaluga Oblast, Russia, located southwest of Moscow. Population: Obninsk is one of the major Russian science cities. The first nuclear power plant in the world for the large-scale production of electricity opened here on June 27, 1954, and it also doubled as a training...
, about 110 km southwest of Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
. It was the first civilian nuclear power station in the world. The plant is also known as APS-1 Obninsk (Atomic Power Station 1 Obninsk).
Achievements
The single reactor unit at the plant, AM-1 ("Атом Мирный", Russian for Atom Mirny, or "peaceful atom"), had a total electrical capacity of 6 MW and a net capacity of around 5 MWe. Thermal output was 30 MW. It was a prototype design using a graphite moderator and water coolant. This reactor was a forerunner of the RBMKRBMK
RBMK is an initialism for the Russian reaktor bolshoy moshchnosti kanalniy which means "High Power Channel-type Reactor", and describes a class of graphite-moderated nuclear power reactor which was built in the Soviet Union. The RBMK reactor was the type involved in the Chernobyl disaster...
reactors.
History
Construction started on January 1, 1951, startup was on June 1, 1954, and the first grid connection was made on June 26, 1954. For around 10 years, Obninsk remained the only nuclear power reactor in the Soviet UnionSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
; the power plant remained active until April 29, 2002 when it was finally shut down.