FEATURES OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF NUCLEAR ENERGY IN RUSSIA
The main problems that must be solved in the present and especially in the future nuclear power industry are the problems of handling spent nuclear fuel (SNF), radioactive waste (RW and HLW). Russia plans to build many nuclear power plants abroad, there may be problems with uranium and storage of returned spent nuclear fuel. Then by 2040-2050 it will be economically feasible to create a nuclear power system (NPS) with a closed fuel cycle (CFC), which will use promising reactors with a fast neutron spectrum BN, BR (with sodium and lead). Reactors cooled by supercritical pressure water (SCW) with thermal and fast neutron spectra - SCWR, WWER-SCW are considered to be a prospect for the development of WWER reactors. It is assumed that their cost will be ~30 % less than WWER 3+. These are Generation-4 reactors. At the first stage, it is planned to develop a two-component nuclear power plant consisting of thermal and fast neutron reactors, which significantly reduces the need for natural uranium. In two-component nuclear power plant natural uranium will be only partially used in thermal reactors and fuel enrichment in thermal reactors will be due to reprocessing SNF obtained in fast reactors. The approximate ratio of TR to BN is 2:1. It’s necessary to have centralized SNF reprocessing plants, production and reuse of regenerated fuel, as well as conditioning and isolation of HLW. The paper presents an economic assessment when using reactors of the WWER-TOI type both independently and in combination with BN-1200 (two-component nuclear power plant), as well as reactors with spectral control - WWER-S, and WWER-SCW with fast (PSCW) and fast resonance neutron spectra. The comparison is carried out by calculating the fuel cost component (FCC) of reactor blocks, as well as by metal consumption, construction volumes, required area, and present value of electricity (LCOE).