The largest power plant in Europe. The most powerful nuclear power plants in the world
Recent events in Japan have once again frightened humanity and forced us to think about the correctness of using the peaceful atom. Germany has already abandoned the peaceful nuclear program, and many states have begun developing new program clean energy production.
The first nuclear power plant was built in 1960, and within ten years there were 116. Today, there are more than 450 operating nuclear reactors in the world, producing 350 gigawatts of electricity.
Most of the reactors are located in the USA - 104. By comparison, in France - 59, and in Russia there are only 29. The lion's share of the energy generated by Russia and France supplies the whole of Europe.
If you make a list of the world's leaders in energy production, it will look like this:
1.
USA - 104 reactors.
2.
France - 59 reactors.
3.
Japan - 53 reactors.
4.
Great Britain – 35 rectors.
5.
Russia – 29 reactors.
6.
Germany - 19 reactors.
7.
South Korea - 16 reactors.
8.
Canada - 14 reactors.
9.
Ukraine – 13 reactors.
10.
Sweden - 11 reactors.
All other countries have less than 10 reactors.
Here clear example distribution of reactors in Europe:
The largest and most powerful reactors on our planet are:
In first place are Fukushima I and Fukushima II in Japan, already known throughout the world due to the recent events. Both power plants are interconnected and are essentially one energy point. Fukushima's total power output is 8,814 megawatts. Today, both of these power plants are an energy hole for Japan's budget. Seven reactors at these power plants are either partially destroyed or in a meltdown. The destruction of the nuclear power plant was caused by an earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan.
Second place is also occupied by the Japanese Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant, located near the Sea of Japan in Niigata Prefecture. The power output of all seven reactors is 8,212 megawatts.
In third place is the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine. The total output power of the 2 reactors is 6000 megawatts. By the way, Zaporozhye NPP is one of the largest nuclear power plants in Europe and the largest in Ukraine. She is also the current longest-living record holder. Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant was built in 1977.
The fourth place is occupied by Yongwan Nuclear Power Plant in South Korea with a total power output of 5875 megawatts. The power plant was built in 1986.
In fifth place is the Gravelines nuclear power plant, which is located in France. The power output of its six reactors is 5,460 megawatts. Gravelines is the largest nuclear power plant in France.
The French Paluel nuclear power plant also occupies sixth place. The reactor of this nuclear power plant is the largest in the world. The output power of the Paluel reactor is 5320 megawatts.
In seventh place is the Kattnom nuclear power plant, which is located in the same France. Each reactor of this nuclear power plant produces 1,300 megawatts of electricity.
Eighth place goes to the Bruce Nuclear Power Plant, which is located in Canada. The total power output of its eight reactors is 4,693 megawatts.
Okha Nuclear Power Plant is in ninth place. This nuclear power plant is located in Japan, in Fukui Prefecture. Ohi Nuclear Power Plant has a total of four reactors, two of which produce 1,180 megawatts, the other two are five megawatts less each. The total output power of the nuclear power plant is 4494 megawatts.
After recent events, the World Association of Nuclear Operators, at an extraordinary congress, decided to strengthen safety at all existing nuclear power plants in the world, placing full responsibility for the implementation of this task on the countries that have nuclear power plants on their territory. Germany, in turn, has already abandoned the peaceful nuclear program and has begun developing a safer type of electricity production.
Many are now looking for what will happen, some say - a meteorite, others - global warming, and a third associate the end of the world with our peaceful atom.
There are more than 400 operating nuclear power plants in the world. They are located in Japan, France, the USA, South Korea, Ukraine and other countries. Which of these nuclear power plants is the most powerful and where the largest and most powerful nuclear power plant in the world is located is a question that interests many. Let's try to answer it.
Kashiwazaki-Kariwa ranks first in the ranking of the largest power plants in the world. It is located in Japan in Niigata Prefecture. Its construction began in 1977, eight years later the station was ready.
The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa power plant consists of seven reactors. Its power is 8212 MW. This figure makes it the most powerful and largest nuclear power plant in the world.
In 2007, an emergency situation occurred. Due to the earthquake, the operation of the nuclear power plant was stopped. Radiation contamination and fire occurred. Two years later, the reactors were started up again, but not at full capacity. Management plans to return all reactors to operation by 2019.
Fukushima
The power plant consisted of two parts called Fukushima-1 and Fukushima-2. They were located not far from each other, so due to the high risks, both objects had to be closed.
Fukushima-1 is located in the prefecture of the same name near the city of Okuma in Japan. Its construction began in the mid-60s. The power plant was launched in 1971. After 40 years, the work of this huge enterprise was stopped. Due to the strong tsunami and earthquake, the cooling equipment of the reactors was damaged. Management announced emergency, since the radiation level was exceeded.
Fukushima 2 is located near the city of Naraha. It was put into operation in 1982. Due to the accident, Fukushima-2 is also not working.
Until 2011, the Fukushima nuclear power plant was considered the most powerful in the world. But due to a strong earthquake, some reactors melted and the power plant stopped functioning.
At the moment it is prohibited to approach the power plant closer than 10 km. This area is called the evacuation zone.
A nuclear power plant located in South Korea, on the shores of the Sea of Japan. All nuclear power plants are built near large bodies of water because the reactor requires cooling. They get it from water.
This large nuclear power plant was commissioned in 1978. Energy power is 6862 MW, it is provided by seven operating reactors.
The Cori Power Plant is constantly growing and updating. Construction of two additional facilities is currently underway, which will increase the capacity of the nuclear power plant.
This power plant is located in Canada, in the Ontario region, in the city of Bruce County. Lake Huron is nearby.
Bruce NPP is considered the favorite among all nuclear power plants in North America, since its power is equal to 6232 MW. IN normal mode eight work nuclear reactors.
The first reactor was built in 1978, the rest were constructed over the next eighteen years.
In the 90s, the operation of two reactors was frozen due to problems. Their renovation took several years. At the beginning of the century, modernized reactors were launched.
Bruce Nuclear Power Plant is the second largest nuclear power plant in the world after Kashiwazaki-Kariwa.
Zaporozhye NPP
This is the main operating nuclear power plant in Ukraine. It is located in a city called Energodar in the Zaporozhye region. Sometimes it is called Energodar nuclear power plant.
Zaporozhye NPP is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, it consists of six reactors, the total power of which is equal to 6000 MW.
In 1984, the first unit was launched. After that, new reactors were opened every year, until 1987.
In 1989, a decision was made to launch the fifth power unit. Then the modernization of nuclear power plants temporarily stopped, as a moratorium on the construction of nuclear reactors was introduced. In 1995, this law was repealed, and the sixth unit of the nuclear power plant was put into operation.
Hanul Nuclear Power Plant (Ulchin)
Location: Gyeongsangbuk-do in South Korea. The power of the nuclear power plant is 5881 MW. This is the largest nuclear power plant in South Korea.
The ceremonial launch of the nuclear power plant took place in 1988. Then it was named Ulchin, in honor of the district of the same name. But in 2013 she changed her name to Hanul.
To date, six units are successfully operating there. In 2018, the launch of two more reactors is planned, the construction of which has been going on for five long years.
Hanul is the eighth nuclear power plant in the state of South Korea. And if we were to make a list of leading countries in terms of the number of active nuclear reactors, then South Korea would undoubtedly be included in this list, taking fifth place.
Another pride of the South Korean nuclear industry is the Hanbit nuclear power plant. Its power is equal 5875 MW. Hanbit is only six units behind its older Korean sister, Hanul Nuclear Power Plant.
Hanbit Nuclear Power Plant is located in the city of Yongwan, so it is often called Yongwan Nuclear Power Plant.
Six pressurized water reactors (PWRs) are operating normally. The reactors were launched from 1988 to 2002.
Gravelines is the largest nuclear power plant in France. Its power ratings are equal 5706 MW.
The nuclear power plant is located in a picturesque location, on the shores of the North Sea, not far from the village of Dunkirk. The nuclear power plant includes six power units that were built over 11 years, from 1974 to 1984.
At the Gravelines nuclear power plant, 1,600 thousand people work every day, providing their country with energy.
France ranks second in the world in terms of the number of nuclear power plants; the palm is in the hands of the United States.
Palo Verde
This is the most powerful nuclear power plant in the United States. It should be noted that this is the only station in the world that is located far from bodies of water. If we look at the map, we will be surprised to find that Palo Verde is a nuclear power plant in the desert. It is cooled using wastewater from neighboring cities.
Palo Verde began operating in 1988. Three reactors provide total power 4174 VMT.
Nuclear power plants are located all over the world. They not only provide megacities with energy, but also pose a threat. The most powerful and largest nuclear power plant is located in Japan.
Recently, the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology hosted Russian presentation the ITER project, within the framework of which it is planned to create a thermonuclear reactor operating on the tokamak principle. A group of scientists from Russia spoke about the international project and the participation of Russian physicists in the creation of this object. Lenta.ru attended the ITER presentation and spoke with one of the project participants.
ITER (ITER, International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) is a thermonuclear reactor project that allows the demonstration and research of thermonuclear technologies for their further use for peaceful and commercial purposes. The creators of the project believe that controlled thermonuclear fusion can become the energy of the future and serve as an alternative to modern gas, oil and coal. Researchers note the safety, environmental friendliness and accessibility of ITER technology compared to conventional energy. The complexity of the project is comparable to the Large Hadron Collider; The reactor installation includes more than ten million structural elements.
Photo: LESENECHAL/ PPV-AIX.COM
About ITER
Tokamak toroidal magnets require 80 thousand kilometers of superconducting filaments; their total weight reaches 400 tons. The reactor itself will weigh about 23 thousand tons. For comparison, the weight of the Eiffel Tower in Paris is only 7.3 thousand tons. The plasma volume in the tokamak will reach 840 cubic meters, while, for example, in the largest reactor of this type operating in the UK - JET - the volume is only one hundred cubic meters.
The height of the tokamak will be 73 meters, of which 60 meters will be above the ground and 13 meters below it. For comparison, the height of the Spasskaya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin is 71 meters. The main reactor platform will cover an area of 42 hectares, which is comparable to the area of 60 football fields. The temperature in the tokamak plasma will reach 150 million degrees Celsius, which is ten times higher than the temperature at the center of the Sun.
In the construction of ITER in the second half of 2010, it is planned to involve up to five thousand people simultaneously - this will include both workers and engineers, and administrative staff. Many of ITER's components will be transported from the port near the Mediterranean Sea along a specially constructed road approximately 104 kilometers long. In particular, the heaviest fragment of the installation will be delivered along it, the mass of which will be more than 900 tons, and the length will be about ten meters. More than 2.5 million cubic meters of earth will be removed from the construction site of the ITER installation.
Total costs for design and construction work are estimated at 13 billion euros. These funds are allocated by seven main project participants representing the interests of 35 countries. For comparison, the total costs of building and maintaining the Large Hadron Collider are almost half as much, and building and maintaining the International Space Station costs almost one and a half times more.
Tokamak
There are two in the world today promising projects thermonuclear reactors: tokamak ( That roidal ka measure with ma rotten To atushki) and stellarator. In both installations, the plasma is contained by a magnetic field, but in a tokamak it is in the form of a toroidal cord through which an electric current is passed, while in a stellarator the magnetic field is induced by external coils. Fusion reactions occur in thermonuclear reactors heavy elements from light (helium from hydrogen isotopes - deuterium and tritium), in contrast to conventional reactors, where the processes of decay of heavy nuclei into lighter ones are initiated.
Photo: National Research Center “Kurchatov Institute” / nrcki.ru
The electric current in the tokamak is also used to initially heat the plasma to a temperature of about 30 million degrees Celsius; further heating is carried out by special devices.
The theoretical design of a tokamak was proposed in 1951 by Soviet physicists Andrei Sakharov and Igor Tamm, and the first installation was built in the USSR in 1954. However, scientists were unable to maintain the plasma in a steady state for a long time, and by the mid-1960s the world was convinced that controlled thermonuclear fusion based on a tokamak was impossible.
But just three years later, at the T-3 installation at the Institute of Atomic Energy and Kurchatov, under the leadership of Lev Artsimovich, it was possible to heat the plasma to a temperature of more than five million degrees Celsius and hold it for a short time; Scientists from Great Britain who were present at the experiment recorded a temperature of about ten million degrees on their equipment. After this, a real boom in tokamaks began in the world, so that about 300 installations were built in the world, the largest of which are located in Europe, Japan, the USA and Russia.
Image: Rfassbind/ wikipedia.org
ITER Management
In 1985, Evgeny Velikhov proposed to Mikhail Gorbachev to combine the efforts of the United States and the USSR in the field of thermonuclear energy and begin work on the creation of an international thermonuclear reactor based on a tokamak. The first began in 1988 design work, and already in 1992 it was signed international agreement about the development technical project ITER reactor. Full price at the project development stage amounted to about two billion dollars. The participation of Russia and the United States in financing this stage was approximately 17 percent each; the rest was divided roughly equally between the EU and Japan.
Now the main founders of ITER are the European Union, India, China, South Korea, Russia, the USA and Japan. About 35 countries, representing more than half of the world's population, are directly or indirectly involved in the project. Kazakhstan has also been participating in the ITER project under Russia's quota since 1994. Scientists plan to begin experiments at ITER in 2020. However, the start of work is often delayed; To date, the delay is estimated at two to three years.
Where and what is
Image: wikimedia.org
At the very beginning of the project, there was a struggle between Japan and France for the possibility of placing ITER installations on their territories. As a result, France won: in 2005, a decision was made to build a reactor in the south of the country, 60 kilometers from Marseille at the Karadash research center. The complex occupies a total area of about 180 hectares. It houses the reactor installations, energy supply systems, gas storage, water pumping station, cooling tower, administrative and other buildings. In 2007, construction of the complex and laying of the foundation began, and most recently, on March 19, 2014, concrete was poured for the tritium production facility.
Reactor and fuel
The operation of the ITER reactor is based on the thermonuclear reaction of the fusion of hydrogen isotopes deuterium and tritium to form helium with an energy of 3.5 megaelectronvolts and a high-energy neutron (14.1 megaelectronvolts). To do this, the deuterium-tritium mixture must be heated to a temperature of more than one hundred million degrees Celsius, which is five times the temperature of the Sun. In this case, the mixture turns into a plasma of positively charged hydrogen nuclei and electrons. In such a heated plasma, the energy of both deuterium and tritium is sufficient for thermonuclear fusion reactions to begin with the formation of helium and neutron.
Image: Wykis/ wikipedia.org
One reaction event releases an energy of 17.6 megaelectronvolts, which includes the kinetic energy of a neutron and a helium nucleus. A neutron from the plasma enters the coolant that surrounds the plasma, and its energy of motion is converted into thermal energy. Helium energy is used to maintain stationary temperature regime in plasma.
Photo: O. Morand/ wikipedia.org
Deuterium is found in ordinary water; Scientists have learned to extract it relatively easily. Natural hydrogen contains about 0.01 percent of this isotope. With tritium it is more difficult - it is almost absent on Earth. However, scientists plan to obtain it within the framework of the ITER project, using reactions of interaction of a neutron with lithium isotopes Li-6 and Li-7, which can be introduced into the composition of the blanket coolant - the shell surrounding the plasma. The products of this interaction are helium, tritium and neutron (in the case of the Li-7 isotope).
To summarize, we can say that the fuel for the ITER reactor is deuterium and lithium. At the same time, the content of deuterium in ocean water is practically unlimited, and lithium in the earth’s crust is almost 200 times more than uranium; When using deuterium contained in a bottle of water, the same amount of energy will be released as when burning a barrel of gasoline: the calorie content of thermonuclear fuel is a million times higher than any of the modern non-nuclear energy sources.
Reactor parameters
For energy benefits, the reactor must operate with a Q parameter value greater than five. This parameter shows the ratio of the energy u released during the reaction to the energy u expended on creating and heating the plasma. In addition, it is necessary to heat the plasma to a temperature greater than one hundred million degrees Celsius, and such heated plasma in the reactor must be stable for more than one second.
Thus, at the TFTR installation in New Jersey in the USA, a thermonuclear reaction was carried out with a power of about ten megawatts with a pulse duration of 0.3 seconds. The JET installation in the UK produced 17 megawatts of power with Q=0.6.
Image: ITER
In a reactor measuring 40 by 40 meters: 1 - central solenoid, 2 - poloidal magnetic field coils, 3 - toroidal magnetic field coil, 4 - vacuum chamber, 5 - cryostat, 6 - divertor.
In ITER, in the first phase of the experiment, it is planned to hold plasma for up to a thousand seconds with a Q of more than ten at a temperature of about 150 million degrees and a released power of 500 megawatts. In the second phase, scientists want to move to continuous operation of the tokamak, and, if successful, to the first commercial version of the DEMO tokamak. DEMO will have a much simpler design and will not carry a research load, and its operation will not require a significant number of sensors, since the necessary parameters of the reactor operation will have already been worked out at the ITER experimental reactor.
Russian participation
Russia's participation in the ITER project is currently about ten percent. This allows the country to have access to all of the project's technologies. The main task facing Russia within the framework of the project is the production of superconducting magnets, as well as a variety of diagnostic sensors and plasma structure analyzers.
Lenta.ru talked with Russian participant in the ITER project Vladimir Anosov, head of the group in the department of experimental tokamak physics of the State Scientific Center of the Russian Federation TRINIT.
What is the basis for confidence that ITER will be operational in 5-10 years? On what practical and theoretical developments?
On the Russian side, we are fulfilling the stated work schedule and are not going to violate it. Unfortunately, we see some delays in the work being carried out by others, mainly in Europe; There is a partial delay in America and there is a tendency that the project will be somewhat delayed. Detained but not stopped. There is confidence that it will work. The concept of the project itself is completely theoretically and practically calculated and reliable, so I think it will work. Whether it will give the full declared results - we'll wait and see.
Is the project more of a research project?
Certainly. The stated result is not the obtained result. If it is received in full, I will be extremely happy.
What new technologies have appeared, are appearing or will appear in the ITER project?
The ITER project is not just a super-complex, but also a super-stressful project. Stressful in terms of energy load, operating conditions of certain elements, including our systems. Therefore, new technologies simply must be born in this project.
Is there an example?
Space. For example, our diamond detectors. We discussed the possibility of using our diamond detectors on space trucks, which are nuclear vehicles that transport certain objects such as satellites or stations from orbit to orbit. There is such a project for a space truck. Since this is a device with a nuclear reactor on board, difficult operating conditions require analysis and control, so our detectors could easily do this. At the moment, the topic of creating such diagnostics is not yet funded. If it is created, it can be applied and then there will be no need to invest money in it at the development phase, but only at the development and implementation phase.
What is the share of modern Russian developments of the 2000s and 1990s in comparison with Soviet and Western developments?
The share of Russian scientific contribution to ITER compared to the global one is very large. I don't know it exactly, but it is very significant. It is clearly no less than the Russian percentage of financial participation in the project, because many other teams have large number Russians who went abroad to work in other institutes. In Japan and America, everywhere, we communicate and work with them very well, some of them represent Europe, some represent America. In addition, there are also scientific schools. Therefore, regarding whether we are developing stronger or more what we did before... One of the greats said that “we stand on the shoulders of titans,” so the base that was developed in Soviet times, it is undeniably great and without it we could not do anything. But even at the moment we are not standing still, we are moving.
What exactly does your group do at ITER?
I have a sector in the department. The department is engaged in the development of several diagnostics, our sector is specifically engaged in the development of a vertical neutron chamber, ITER neutron diagnostics and solves a wide range of problems from design to manufacturing, and also carries out related research work related to the development, in particular, of diamond detectors. The diamond detector is a unique device, originally created in our laboratory. Previously used in many thermonuclear installations, it is now used quite widely by many laboratories from America to Japan; they, let's say, followed us, but we continue to remain on top. Now we are making diamond detectors and are going to reach their level industrial production(small-scale production).
What industries can these detectors be used in?
In this case, these are thermonuclear research; in the future, we assume that they will be in demand in nuclear energy.
What exactly do detectors do, what do they measure?
Neutrons. There is no more valuable product than the neutron. You and I also consist of neutrons.
What characteristics of neutrons do they measure?
Spectral. Firstly, the immediate task that is solved at ITER is the measurement of neutron energy spectra. In addition, they monitor the number and energy of neutrons. The second, additional task concerns nuclear energy: we have parallel developments that can also measure thermal neutrons, which are the basis of nuclear reactors. This is a secondary task for us, but it is also being developed, that is, we can work here and at the same time make developments that can be quite successfully applied in nuclear energy.
What methods do you use in your research: theoretical, practical, computer modeling?
Everyone: from complex mathematics (methods of mathematical physics) and mathematical modeling to experiments. All the most different types The calculations that we carry out are confirmed and verified by experiments, because we directly have an experimental laboratory with several operating neutron generators, on which we test the systems that we ourselves develop.
Do you have a working reactor in your laboratory?
Not a reactor, but a neutron generator. A neutron generator is, in fact, a mini-model of the thermonuclear reactions in question. Everything is the same there, only the process there is slightly different. It works on the principle of an accelerator - it is a beam of certain ions that hits a target. That is, in the case of plasma, we have a hot object in which each atom has high energy, and in our case, a specially accelerated ion hits a target saturated with similar ions. Accordingly, a reaction occurs. Let's just say this is one way you can do the same fusion reaction; the only thing that has been proven is that this method does not have high efficiency, that is, you will not get a positive energy output, but you do get the reaction itself - we directly observe this reaction and the particles and everything that goes in it.
Today, the attitude towards nuclear power plants in the world is not at all unambiguous. And there are many reasons for this, because in the event of a breakdown of such energy sources, literally the entire planet could be in danger. But the world will not be able to turn away from nuclear energy any time soon. The cost of its production is less, there are no harmful emissions, delivery of fuel to the station costs a penny - all the advantages are obvious. All that remains is to sort out safety during design and construction - and the “peaceful atom” will have no enemies left! So, which nuclear power plants are the most powerful and where are they located?
In 2010, the Japanese nuclear power plant reached an installed capacity of 8212 MW. This is the most powerful nuclear power plant in the world. And even after the earthquake in 2007, when emergency situations arose at the station, after all the restoration work (the power had to be reduced), this energy giant remained in first place in the world (today it is 7965 MW). After the Fukushima incident, the plant was shut down to check all systems and then restarted.
The largest nuclear power plant in Canada itself and the entire North American continent is the Bruce Nuclear Power Plant. It was built in 1987 on the shores of picturesque Lake Huron (Ontario). The station is huge in area and occupies more than 932 hectares of land. Its 8 nuclear reactors provide a total power of 6232 MW and bring Canada to second place on our list. It is worth noting that until the early 2000s, the Ukrainian Zaporozhye nuclear power plant was considered the second largest in the world. But the Canadians bypassed Ukraine, managing to “overclock” their reactors to such high levels.
The third in the world and the first in Europe in terms of power is the Zaporozhye NPP. The station became fully operational in 1993, becoming the most powerful in everything former USSR. The total capacity of the enterprise is 6000 MW. It is located on the shore of the Kakhovka reservoir near the city of Energodar, Zaporozhye region. The nuclear power plant employs 11.5 thousand people. At one time, with the start of construction of this station, the entire region received a powerful economic boost, thanks to which it grew both socially and industrially.
This station is located near the city of Uljin in South Korea and has a capacity of 5900 MW. It is worth saying that the Koreans have another nuclear power plant identical in power - Hanbit, but Hanul is planned to be “overclocked” to a record 8,700 MW. In the next 5 years, Korean engineers promise to finish the work, and then perhaps there will be a new champion on our list. We'll see.
The most powerful station in France is Gravelines. Its total capacity reaches 5460 MW. The nuclear power plant was built on the shores of the North Sea, the waters of which are involved in the cooling process of all 6 of its reactors. France, like no other country in Europe, develops its own technologies and developments in the nuclear field and has on its territory the largest and most powerful nuclear power plants, which includes more than 50 nuclear reactors.
The total capacity of this “French” is 5320 MW. It is also located on the coast, but has one interesting feature: in the immediate vicinity of the nuclear power plant there is the Paluel commune (after which, in fact, the station is named), and so, almost all of the 1,200 station employees are residents of this very commune. A truly “Soviet” approach to the problem of employment!
And again Japan. The plant's four nuclear reactors produce 4,494 MW. The station is considered one (if not the most) reliable and does not have a single emergency or safety incident in its “track record”. This issue is more than relevant in Japan after the events in Fukushima. Let's just say that after the operation of all Japanese nuclear power plants was stopped to check the technical condition after the earthquake, it was the Ohi plant that returned to work first.
The most powerful nuclear power plant The USA is only in eighth position on our list. The three reactors of this station produce a power of 4174 MW. This is not the highest figure today, but this nuclear power plant is unique in its own way. The fact is that Wintersburg is the only nuclear power plant in the world that is not located on the shore of a large body of water. The technical highlight of this nuclear power plant is that it uses waste water nearest settlements(the city of Palo Verde, for example). One can only be surprised at the determination of American engineers who, contrary to safety traditions, decided to take such a bold step when designing this nuclear power plant.
The most powerful nuclear power plant in Russia was put into operation in 1985. Today its total capacity is 4000 MW. The nuclear power plant is located on the shore of the Saratov reservoir and provides a fifth of the energy production of all nuclear power plants in Russia. The station's staff is 3,770 people. Balakovo NPP is the “pioneer” of all nuclear fuel research in Russia. In general, we can say that everything latest developments were put into operation at this particular nuclear power plant. And only after passing practical tests here, they received permission for use at other nuclear power plants in Russia and other countries.
The last station on our list is located on the island of Honshu in Japan. The power of this nuclear power plant is 3617 MW. Today, 3 out of 5 reactors are in operation. The remaining 2 were stopped due to technical work to improve safety and protection from natural disasters. And again, after Fukushima, the Japanese demonstrate high professionalism and organization, in relation not only to themselves, but also to the whole world.
Electrical energy is an integral, one might say irreplaceable, component of our daily life. It is for this reason that the world's largest power plants, like their smaller brothers, work around the clock for the benefit of humanity.
Among their huge variety, the most widespread today in Russia and the USA, as well as in other developed countries, including Europe, are the nuclear power plants of the world.
And there is a completely rational explanation for this. Nuclear energy has a number of advantages that set it apart from its competitors.
- The output is very cheap electricity, which provides economic feasibility the use of precisely such industries as nuclear power plants in Europe, in particular, and the whole world in general.
- With proper operation and compliance with all safety rules, using the labor of experienced and qualified specialists, even the most powerful nuclear power plant in the world does not bring environment, there is absolutely no harm to the environment, unlike the same hydroelectric power plants, and even more so, thermal power plants.
US Nuclear Power Plants - Main Disadvantages and Threats
As noted above, power stations based on nuclear technologies are very profitable in economic terms. And today, and in the medium term, there are no replacements for these industries in sight. Perhaps, over time, renewable energy sources will come to replace it, but for now the power of the largest nuclear power plant is comparable to the total power of all alternative and innovative developments. How many nuclear power plants are there in the world?
However, with all its advantages, this type of energy also has its negative aspects, which to one degree or another hinder the development of the “peaceful atom”.
- Security is the Achilles heel of all structures. Unfortunately, humanity periodically faces tragedies, reactor accidents - Chernobyl, Fokushima and so on. How many nuclear power plants in Europe were on the verge of accident? Even experts won’t tell you about this. However, this is not a reason to abandon nuclear energy completely. It is necessary to pay maximum attention to the development of safe technologies that will be resistant not only to the human factor, as the most dangerous, but also to natural disasters - earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, tornadoes and others. If developers and technologists manage to minimize risks, then the largest power plants will remain nuclear for a long time.
- Another major challenge facing the world's power plants is the need to dispose of waste. Indeed, radioactive waste has a long half-life of several million years, when it becomes safe. But here it should be noted that even the most powerful nuclear power plant in Russia uses only a small amount of fuel. As a result, well-organized burial grounds do not take up much space. True, they require constant monitoring and care.
What is the most powerful power plant in the world?
As practice shows, large power plants are the most economically profitable. And the largest power plant in the world is located in Japan. It is called Kashiwazaki-Kariwa. Its operating capacity back in 2010 was 8.2 thousand MW. After the well-known earthquakes in this country, the power decreased slightly to 7.9 GW. However, even with these indicators, the station remains the largest and most powerful in the world. To be fair, it is worth noting that there was a moment after the Fakushima disaster when the equipment was stopped for some time to carry out maintenance. However, today the station operates as before.
In second place is the most powerful power plant in North America - “Bruce” (Canada). This production started operating relatively recently, only in 1987. The total power of the eight reactors reaches 6.2 GW in normal mode. By the way, before this, Zaporozhye NPP was in second place.
The largest power plant in our country
Of course, Russia is one of the largest players in the nuclear energy market. It may not be the largest power plant in the world, but the largest in our country is located on the shore of the Saratov reservoir - the Balakovo Nuclear Power Plant. It was launched in 1985. The total power of the reactors is approximately 4 thousand kW. By the way, about 4,000 people work at the station service personnel. To some extent, it was the Balakovo NPP that became the testing ground for all innovative developments in the field of nuclear energy.
In conclusion, we can conclude that nuclear energy will occupy a leading position in the entire world community for a long time. The most important thing is that specialists can provide the necessary level of security.
