Unattended self-controlled nuclear thermoelectric plant (ELENA NTEP). Annex III

The ELENA NTEP is an unattended self-controlled nuclear thermoelectric plant for cogeneration of electricity and heat. The plant name reflects the following major features of the design: - Capability of power operation without the involvement of personnel; - Compensation of burn-up reactivity swing and other external reactivity disturbances without moving the control rods; - The use of thermoelectric energy conversion to produce electricity. The design of nuclear power plants with thermoelectric energy conversion systems was underway in the 1960s in many countries (the Russian Federation, the USA, the United Kingdom, and France). These plants were intended as power sources for space and oceanic research. A series of the US thermoelectric power sources of the SNAP type was developed and used in space satellites and lunar explorations. In this, radioisotopes were heat sources in plants with uneven ordinal numbers and nuclear reactors were heat sources in plants with even ordinal numbers. Power sources of this type in use in the Russian Federation are radioisotope based thermoelectric generators on satellites and the ROMASHKA thermoelectric nuclear reactor. General Dynamics, Westinghouse Electric and Martin developed thermoelectric nuclear plants for marine applications in the USA. The Russian Federation developed and constructed a pilot and demonstration thermoelectric nuclear plant GAMMA, which has been put into operation in 1982 and is still operating. Over the operation period, comprehensive studies were performed at the GAMMA to validate autonomous nuclear power sources for deep-sea deployment. A specific feature of the above mentioned plants is the capability of operator-free performance. This feature becomes very important if such plants are to be used for heat and electricity supply to small towns in the remote areas with no centralized power supply. The ELENA NTEP project was developed using the experiences in construction and operation of marine and space power plants and the operation experience of the GAMMA reactor. The concept has been developed by the Russian Research Centre 'Kurchatov Institute' (RRC KI). Participants in the development of the project were several Russian organizations, with the major contributors being Federal State Unitary Enterprise (FSUE) 'Krasnaya zvezda', FSUE 'Atomenergoproekt' and Joint Stock Company (JSC) 'Izhorskiye zavody'