Inherent Self-Protection, Passive Safety and Competitiveness of Small Power Modular Fast Reactor SVBR-10

One of the ways to rehabilitate the population confidence to the nuclear power is construction of reactors with high level of inherent self-protection and passive safety such as modular fast reactors SVBR-100 with heavy liquid metal coolant lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE) alloy. Due to natural properties of LBE, in those reactors the causes of the severest accident with coolant loss, which require population evacuation, have been eliminated deterministically. Those reactors could be used for generation of electricity and heat, could be located near cities and replace coal electric plants. High safety of reactors SVBR-100 makes possible their location in the centres of power consumption or close to the regions, in which raw and mineral mining is performed. Thus, there is no necessity in construction of expensive extended electric transmission lines. Use of LBE is forming the backgrounds for simplification of reactor design due to elimination of the certain safety systems required in the reactors with other coolants. Thus, it is possible to construct the nuclear power plants (NPPs) based on SVBR-100 reactors not only safer, but more competitive, as compared with NPPs based on traditional type reactors. In the closed nuclear fuel cycle those reactors will operate in a mode of fuel self-breeding without consumption of natural uranium. (author)