A nuclear meltdown is a severe nuclear reactor accident that results in core damage from overheating. The term nuclear meltdown is not officially defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency or by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission. It has been defined to mean the accidental melting of the core of a nuclear reactor, however, and is in common usage a reference to the core's either complete or partial collapse.
The RBMK is a class of graphite-moderated nuclear power reactor designed and built by the Soviet Union. The name refers to its design where, instead of a large steel pressure vessel surrounding the entire core, the core is surrounded by a cylindrical annular steel tank inside a concrete vault and each fuel assembly is enclosed in an individual 8 cm (inner) diameter pipe. The channels also contain the coolant, and are surrounded by graphite.
The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant is a nuclear power plant undergoing decommissioning. ChNPP is located near the abandoned city of Pripyat in northern Ukraine, 16.5 kilometers (10 mi) northwest of the city of Chernobyl, 16 kilometers (10 mi) from the Belarus–Ukraine border, and about 100 kilometers (62 mi) north of Kyiv. The plant was cooled by an engineered pond, fed by the Pripyat River about 5 kilometers (3 mi) northwest from its juncture with the Dnieper.
Rosatom, also known as Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation, the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom, or Rosatom State Corporation, is a Russian state corporation headquartered in Moscow that specializes in nuclear energy, nuclear non-energy goods and high-tech products. Established in 2007 and comprising more than 350 enterprises, including scientific research organizations, a nuclear weapons complex, and the world's only nuclear icebreaker fleet.
The Kola Nuclear Power Plant, also known as Kolsk NPP or Kolskaya NPP, is a nuclear power plant located 12 km away from Polyarnye Zori, Murmansk Oblast in north-western Russia. If the floating nuclear power plant Akademik Lomonosov is excluded, it is the northernmost nuclear power plant housed in a fixed location structure.
The water-water energetic reactor (WWER), or VVER is a series of pressurized water reactor designs originally developed in the Soviet Union, and now Russia, by OKB Gidropress. The idea of such a reactor was proposed at the Kurchatov Institute by Savely Moiseevich Feinberg. VVER were originally developed before the 1970s, and have been continually updated. As a result, the name VVER is associated with a wide variety of reactor designs spanning from generation I reactors to modern generation III+ reactor designs. Power output ranges from 70 to 1300 MWe, with designs of up to 1700 MWe in development. The first prototype VVER-210 was built at the Novovoronezh Nuclear Power Plant.
Generation III reactors, or Gen III reactors, are a class of nuclear reactors designed to succeed Generation II reactors, incorporating evolutionary improvements in design. These include improved fuel technology, higher thermal efficiency, significantly enhanced safety systems, and standardized designs intended to reduce maintenance and capital costs. They are promoted by the Generation IV International Forum (GIF).
Russia is one of the world's largest producers of nuclear energy. In 2020 total electricity generated in nuclear power plants in Russia was 215.746 TWh, 20.28% of all power generation. The installed gross capacity of Russian nuclear reactors is 29.4 GW in December 2020.
The Belene Nuclear Power Plant is an abandoned nuclear power plant 3 km from Belene and 11 km from Svishtov in Pleven Province, northern Bulgaria, near the Danube River. It was intended to substitute four VVER-440 V230 reactors of the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant that were decommissioned as a prerequisite for Bulgaria to join the European Union.
The Armenian Nuclear Power Plant (ANPP), also known as the Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant, is the only nuclear power plant in the South Caucasus, located 36 kilometers west of Yerevan in Armenia.
Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant ) is a nuclear power plant located in the town of Sosnovy Bor in Russia's Leningrad Oblast, on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland, some 70 kilometres (43 mi) to the west of the city centre of Saint Petersburg.
Balakovo nuclear power station is located in the city of Balakovo, Saratov Oblast, Russia, about 900 kilometres (560 mi) south-east of Moscow. It consists of four operational reactors; a fifth unit is still under construction. Owner and operator of the nuclear power station is Rosenergoatom.
The Kalinin Nuclear Power Station is located about 200 kilometres (120 mi) north west of Moscow, in Tver Oblast near the town of Udomlya. Owner and operator of the plant is the state enterprise Rosenergoatom. Kalinin Nuclear Power Station supplies the majority of electricity in the Tver region and additionally serves Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and Vladimir. In 2005 the nuclear power station fed 17.3 TWh (62,000 TJ) into the grid. The station's four 150 metres (490 ft) tall cooling towers are local landmarks. They were manufactured in 96 concrete sections each.
The Astravets Nuclear Power Plant is a nuclear power plant located in the Astravyets District, Grodno Region in north-western Belarus. The power plant is built close to the Belarus-Lithuania border, being 40 kilometres (25 mi) east of the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius. The plant is powered by two 1194-MW VVER-1200 units supplied by Atomstroyexport, the nuclear equipment exporter branch of the Russian nuclear corporation Rosatom. The plant is owned by State Enterprise Belarusian NPP, which in turn is owned by the state-owned operator Belenergo.
Novovoronezh Nuclear Power Plant II is a Russian nuclear power plant with two 1200 MW pressurized water reactors (VVER) located in Voronezh Oblast. The power plant is built on the same site as the present Novovoronezh Nuclear Power Plant.
Smolensk Nuclear Power Plant is a nuclear power station in Russia. It is located in the Smolensk region, in Desnogorsk province, approximately 100 kilometres (62 mi) from Smolensk, 115 kilometres (71 mi) from Bryansk and 320 kilometres (200 mi) from Moscow. Smolensk Nuclear Power Plant is the biggest power generating station in the north-western region of the united energy system of the Russian Federation. Smolensk NPP has an outer appearance similar to that of Chernobyl NPP units 3-4, as both are later generation RBMKs.
Rostov Nuclear Power Plant, also known as Volgodonsk Nuclear Power Plant, is a Russian nuclear power plant located on the left bank of the Tsimlyansk reservoir in the lower stream of the Don River near Volgodonsk, Rostov Oblast.
The Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (Bengali: রূপপুর পারমাণবিক বিদ্যুৎকেন্দ্র) is a 2.4 GWe nuclear power plant project in Bangladesh. The nuclear power plant is being constructed at Rooppur of Ishwardi upazila in Pabna District, on the bank of the river Padma, 87 miles (140 km) west of Dhaka. It will be the country's first nuclear power plant, and the first of the two units is expected to go into operation in 2024. The VVER-1200/523 Nuclear reactor and critical infrastructures are being built by the Russian Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation. In the main construction period, the total number of employees will reach 12,500, including 2,500 specialists from Russia. It is expected to generate around 15% of the country's electricity when completed.
Kostroma Nuclear Power Plant is an as-yet proposed, but currently non-existent nuclear power plant that was to be erected in the Buysky District, of Kostroma Oblast in Russia.
