Nuclear power and its significance in the USSR as a source of energy

Nuclear power is developing apace in the USSR and assuming an ever increasing role in the total production of electrical energy side by side with fossil-fuelled and hydroelectric power stations. Primary importance is attached to the construction of nuclear power stations in the European part of the USSR in the period 1976-80. Thermal reactor stations in the USSR are largely based on two types of reactors, (a) the pressurized light-water moderated and cooled reactor and (b) the uranium-graphite channel-type boiling water reactor. The development of fast reactors has made further strides since the commissioning of the BOR-60 and BN-350 reactors. Construction of the BN-600 reactor is nearing completion and design work on the BN-1600 reactor has started. Nuclear power in the USSR has become an independent branch of the electricity-generating industry. The increase in the number of nuclear power stations and in their capacity has presented scientists and experts with major problems concerning the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel and the disposal of highly radioactive waste. The author considers how these problems might be tackled, including at the international level. (author)