OREANDA-NEWS. December 03, 2012. OJSC AKME Engineering, a joint venture established by Russian State Atomic Energy Company Rusatom and OJSC Irkutskenergo to build small nuclear power plants, will start constructing a nuclear power plant in Dimitrovgrad (Ulyanovsk region) in 2013 with a new generation SVBR-100 reactor, the city administration said in a press release.
 
Deputy general director of the joint venture, Yuri Koselev, announced the plans at a meeting of a city administration task force on integrating the future NPP into the Dimitrovgrad economy.
 
The reactor is to be launched in 2018 and will provide additional heat supply to the growing western district of Dimitrovgrad.
 
"A 12-hectare site has already been chosen for the NPP in the forest in the western part of the city. Project research work begins in December and deforestation and preparations for building in 2013," the release said.
 
The next phase after installing and testing the SBVR-100 reactor will be commercialization of the technology, the Ulyanovsk regional government website says.
 
"The nuclear power plant project with the experimental-industrial SBVR-100 unit will enable small and mid-sized nuclear power plants to be created with capacity of from 100 megawatts. This will help satisfy demand for energy generating capacity in areas with small consumption volumes and significant network restrictions," the report says.
 
The regional government says that construction of such reactors is possible amid a wide range of climatic conditions and a modular assembly principle will be applied: the reactor body and key modules will be assembled in factory conditions and then transported by rail to be assembled on site.
 
"This reactor project could also be used in the future to renovate existing NPP with VVER-440 reactors, as it is possible to install the SVBR-100 at the location of dismantled steam generators and leave the rest of the nuclear power plant infrastructure unchanged. This could extend the term of existing NPP for dozens of years at a specific site," the report says.
 
SVBR-100 reactors are especially intended for supplying remote or isolated regions and can be used to desalinate sea water. The technology was previously used by the nuclear submarine fleet. The project to develop and construct the pilot reactor is being carried out as part of the federal target program on new generation nuclear power technology in 2010-2015 and outlook to 2020. Investment in the project is estimated at 16 billion to 18 billion rubles.