The status of work on the development of a 1200 MW sodium-cooled reactor facility for serial construction is presented. The general characteristics of the facility and the power-generating unit as well as the objectives which must be attained as a result of the design are presented. The design of the power-generating group is based on solutions some of which have been checked during the operation of sodium-cooled reactors in Russia and some have been validated by the appropriate research and development work performed for BN-800. At the same time, new solutions are used which are aimed at improving the technical-economic indicators and increasing the level of safety. Additional R&D work will be needed to validate them.The nuclear future of Russia and most other countries developing nuclear power involves fast reactors and a closed fuel cycle. Thus far only sodium-cooled fast reactors are ready for commercial adoption on a wide scale. In our country, we have more than 50 years of experience in developing and successfully operating such reactors: BR-5 (1959) → BR-10 (1973-2002) → BOR-60 (1969 -in operation) → BN-350 (1973-1998) → BN-600 (1980 -in operation) → BN-800 (under construction). A design of an advanced power-generating unit with a sodium-cooled BN-1200 reactor as the foundation for the initial step in the serial construction of reactors of this type is under development.Target Indicators of Reactor Facility and Power-Generating Unit Design. The development of a power-generating unit must meet the following requirements set for new-generation reactors and nuclear power plants:1) competitiveness with advanced power-generating unit based on reactors of a different type and power-generating units operating on fossil fuel;2) safety increased to a level that makes it unnecessary to take measures to protect the general public outside the borders of the nuclear power plant site for any possible accidents;3) attainment of breeding ratios from 1.2 (stage 1) to 1.3-1.35 (stage 2) using mixed oxide fuel and 1.45 with nitride fuel; 4) reducing the construction time for serially built power-generating units to 48 months; and 5) possibility of introducing a series of reactors in 2-3 years after the startup of the main power-generating unit.

Information is presented on the BN-800 design, the second design following BN-600, power-generating unit with a fast reactor. The main stages of the development of the design begun in the 1980s, modified in the 1990s after the Chernobyl accident, and accepted for construction within the government program starting in 2000 are presented. The fundamental differences of BN-800 from BN-600 are characterized, and current R&D work is briefly described. Information is presented on the construction of BN-800 at the Beloyarskaya nuclear power plant, where the BN-600 has been operating since 1980.The development of the BN-800 reactor started in the USSR immediately after the completion of the BN-600 design, which reactor was started up in 1980 at the Beloyarskaya nuclear power plant. At that time, the BN-800 was regarded as an intermediate stage in the development of large-scale power generation using fast reactors. A small series of four reactors was planned for construction at the Beloyarskaya and Southern Urals nuclear power plants. Subsequently, a transition was planned to high-capacity reactors -up to 1600 MW. However, the construction of the first two BN-800 started at these sites was stopped because of the Chernobyl accident in 1986.Nonetheless, work on the BN-800 design continued. This was directed toward increasing safety and improving costeffectiveness. The research performed in these directions in 1990 was recognized as being successful. A license was obtained for resuming BN-800 construction at the Beloyarskaya nuclear power plant in 1997 and a license for construction at the Southern Urals nuclear power plant was obtained in 1998. These were the first licenses for building nuclear power plants after the Chernobyl accident.Together with accelerated construction of the high-capacity power-generating units with VVER-1000, a special federal program provides for the development of innovative technologies for nuclear power generation. This includes work on fast reactors to which the future transition to a closed fuel cycle is tied; such a fuel cycle will permit the most efficient use of uranium resources and solving the ecological problems of handling spent fuel and radioactive wastes. In the innovative part of the special program, a central role is given to the construction of a BN-800 sodium-cooled fast reactor, which should become an important stage in the development of fast breeder reactors and the formation of a closed fuel cycle in nuclear power [1,2].

Experience in operating the BN-600 sodium-cooled fast reactor during its nominal service life as well as its service life extension period, an additional 15 years, is described. Information is presented on the performance indicators which were achieved and deviations from the normal operating regime which occurred when the reactor was first started up. The degree to which they affect the safety and technicaleconomic performance of the facility is evaluated. It is concluded on the basis of an analysis of the BN-600 operating experience that sodium-cooled fast reactors have now been mastered commercially and that their prospects for further development are good.April 8, 2010 marks 30 years since power startup of the No. 3 unit of the Beloyarskaya nuclear power plant with the BN-600 reactor. This reactor is the only such power reactor operating in the world at the present time. Moreover, this is the first commercial power-generating unit with a sodium-cooled fast reactor operating in a commercial regime anywhere in the world.The successful operation of the BN-600 reactor is confirmation of the leading position that our country now enjoys in the field of sodium-cooled fast reactors. The completion of the nominal operating period of the power-generation unit, equal to 30 years, is an important milestone, a time for summing up the operation and determining the future prospects of the BN-600 reactor itself and the direction as a whole.BN-600 Operation during the Nominal Service Period. The experience gained in operating the BN-600 reactor is of scientific and practical interest [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. The design of the commercial BN-600 power-generating unit incorporates the positive experience accumulated in our country in the development, construction, and operation of preceding facilities with sodium-cooled fast reactors -BR-5/BR-10, BOR-60, and BN-350. Problems which became apparent during the initial period of mastering this reactor technology were also taken into account in the development of the BN-600 design; therefore BN-600 can be viewed as the next step in the development and realization at the commercial level of sodium-cooled fast reactors.

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