Rosatom is in the process of establishing a new model for nuclear power plant construction that is based on standardization, serial production, and the maximum reuse of proven designs, all while expanding its international business.
During a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev disclosed that the corporation is in the process of negotiating approximately 50 new nuclear projects with approximately 15 countries.
At present, Rosatom is building 28 power units of varying capacities in nine countries. Belarus, Uzbekistan, India, China, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, Bangladesh, and Hungary make up this list. Furthermore, agreements have been executed for an additional 17 power units in six countries: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Myanmar, Kyrgyzstan, and Ethiopia.
The long-term nature of nuclear projects is particularly important. A nuclear power plant cannot be built and then transferred to the consumer, resulting in the end of cooperation. Throughout its decades-long operational lifespan, the facility requires fuel supplies, technical maintenance, modernization, and other services. The construction of a nuclear power plant, as a result, establishes lasting economic and technological connections between Russia and the customer country throughout the facility’s lifespan.
Russian state loans are being used to execute various overseas projects. These funds can be remitted to the Russian economy through foreign-currency revenues, facility servicing, and other payments. The Akkuyu nuclear power plant in Türkiye is the most well-known example of the BOT model, which stands for “Build, Own, Operate.”
From One-Off Projects to Serial Production
The nuclear industry in Russia is being compelled to transition from considering each nuclear power plant as a unique megaproject to a highly standardized construction model due to the size of Rosatom’s international portfolio.
At the meeting, Vladimir Putin set the task of creating a range of standardized power units that could be produced almost serially—effectively operating according to a conveyor-belt principle.
Alongside digital design and modeling technologies, the VVER-1200 and VVER-TOI reactor technologies are emerging as critical components of this system. The idea is to maintain the majority of the plant design in its current state, irrespective of the location of the facility. The project would subsequently be tailored to the specific needs of the site, including the climate, seismic activity, and other factors.
This method has the potential to decrease construction time by approximately 20% and reduce costs by standardizing engineering solutions, materials, and equipment.
The industry is shifting from building each nuclear power plant as a unique project to industrially producing a series of identical or closely related power units.
VVER-TOI at the Core of the New Series
The VVER-TOI, or “typical optimized power unit,” is a critical component of this strategy and is based on VVER reactor technology.
The design places particular emphasis on safety. The plant is designed to withstand severe external events, such as extreme loads and powerful earthquakes. Its safety architecture includes multiple independent layers of protection, and certain critical functions can be executed by passive systems that do not require external electrical power.
The core-melt localization system is a critical element. Molten fuel and structural materials are intended to remain within a containment system that has been specifically engineered to cool in the event of a severe accident.
Even in the event of external power failure, reactor cooling can be maintained by passive safety systems. The reliance on pumps and other active equipment for critical safety functions is reduced by the use of natural circulation of water and air.
The Kursk Nuclear Power Plant-2 is at present building pilot power units that incorporate the basic principles of this architecture. Future nuclear initiatives in other regions of Russia are also being evaluated for similar solutions.
Small Nuclear Plants Offer Another Conveyor-Belt Model
The second major direction of serial construction is the development of small nuclear power facilities that are based on the RITM family of reactors.
This technology was developed as a result of the development of reactor systems for Russia’s nuclear-powered icebreakers. Small modular plants are engineered to optimize factory production, in contrast to conventional large nuclear power plants, which require a large amount of equipment to be assembled on the construction site.
The reactor units are produced at specialized facilities, such as Atommash and ZiO-Podolsk, and are later transported to the construction site in a highly completed state.
This fundamentally changes the construction process. The fewer operations that must be performed at the remote site, the more equipment that can be manufactured and tested in factory conditions. This minimizes the amount of construction work that must be performed on site, reduces the installation time, and increases the predictability of the project.
This method is especially crucial for the remote regions of Russia, where the construction of infrastructure is exceedingly challenging due to the huge distances, severe climates, and limited transportation access.
A project of this nature is currently being implemented in the vicinity of Ust-Kuyga in Yakutia. RITM reactor installations that are more potent are also being considered for nuclear power generation projects in the Norilsk industrial region.
Why Russia Needs a Nuclear “Conveyor Belt”
Exports are not the only motivator behind the transition to serial construction. The nuclear industry of Russia is also confronted with the major challenge of modernizing and expanding the nation’s energy infrastructure.
Russia intends to increase its installed nuclear generating capacity by a huge margin by 2045. The program expects the construction of many new power units, with the majority of them being located in the Russian Far East, Siberia, and the Urals.
At the same time, the share of nuclear power in Russia’s electricity mix is expected to rise to approximately one-quarter.
Implementing such a program exclusively through individual project designs would be extremely difficult. Separate engineering work, equipment procurement, approvals, and specialist training are necessary for each undertaking.
Serial production creates the opposite dynamic. The first power unit serves as the foundation for the next one, and so on. As time progresses, the accumulation of experience becomes a standardized procedure. Designers can repurpose established solutions, manufacturers can produce larger quantities of identical equipment, and construction companies can use technologies that they are already familiar with.
This is the reason why the term “conveyor belt” does not necessarily refer to the assembly of a nuclear power plant on a single production line. Rather, it denotes the industrialization of the entire process, from the design and manufacturing of apparatus to the construction and subsequent operation.
Fast Reactors Remain Outside the Main Conveyor Belt
Mass serial production is not feasible for all Russian nuclear technologies.
Fast-neutron reactors occupy a special position. Russia has a unique background in operating them through the Beloyarsk Nuclear Power Plant; however, the technology’s development is currently primarily associated with experimental and demonstration projects.
The Proryv, or “Breakthrough,” initiative in the Seversk, Tomsk Region, which consists of the BREST-OD-300 reactor, is the most notable example. Its objective exceeds that of conventional electricity generation. The initiative is intended to showcase a closed nuclear fuel cycle in which spent nuclear fuel can be reprocessed and repurposed to generate new fuel.
This system has the potential to revolutionize the management of nuclear waste and enable the more efficient use of nuclear resources.
Nevertheless, fast reactors are at a separate stage of development due to their technological complexity. Their immediate objective is to showcase the feasibility of a new technological platform, rather than to supply a multitude of standardized power units for widespread deployment.
Russia’s Investment in Scale
As a result, the nuclear industry of Russia is currently exploring two parallel paths. Serial VVER reactors and RITM small modular reactor systems are the first, which can be increasingly transferred to an industrial “conveyor-belt” paradigm. The second section pertains to fourth-generation technologies that are more experimental, such as closed nuclear fuel cycles and fast reactors.
The second model has the potential to establish the technological foundation for the next generation of nuclear energy if the first model enables Russia to expedite the construction of nuclear power plants both domestically and abroad.
This is especially significant for Rosatom, as it maintains an extensive international order book. As the corporation manages an increasing number of simultaneous projects, its capacity to build nuclear power plants as replicable industrial products becomes increasingly critical, rather than as unique engineering masterpieces.
This may ultimately develop into one of the Russian nuclear industry’s major competitive advantages: the capacity to transform the entire nuclear power plant lifecycle, from design and equipment manufacturing to construction, fuel supply, and operation, into a repeatable technological system, in addition to possessing its own reactor technology.