Putting passive safety into practice at the Gorky/Voronezh AST-500 [nuclear district heating] plants

In recent years there has been much talk about designing nuclear reactors that achieve safety through passive systems and inherent physical properties rather than active engineered features. A description is given of how at the Gorky and Voronezh AST-500 nuclear district heating plants in the USSR, which are currently well into their construction phases, it is hoped to transform some of these concepts into practical reality. (author)