Obninsk nuclear power plant - the legend of nuclear energy

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Nuclear power plants are a popular tool for generating electricity in the world. Getting energy as a result of nuclear reactions has always been profitable. After the accidents at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, the world community began to be wary of nuclear energy. Now nuclear power plants are used in 31 countries of the world. The leaders in the production of nuclear energy are the USA, France, Russia, China, and South Korea. 411 nuclear reactors launched worldwide.

And the world's first nuclear power plant was the Obninsk Nuclear Power Plant. It was launched in the city of Obninsk, Kaluga region in 1954.

History of Obninsk NPP

As you know, in 1949 the Soviet Union tested the first Soviet atomic bomb. The tests were successful, and officials thought about the peaceful use of atomic energy. It was decided to build the first reactor for the peaceful use of the energy of nuclear reactions. As a result, the construction of the Obninsk NPP began in the Kaluga Region in 1950.

The planned capacity of the power plant was 5000kW. Four years later, in June 1954, the world's first nuclear power plant was put into operation. The production was multifunctional. The station produced not only electricity, but also heat. In addition, a research center was organized on the territory of the Obninsk NPP to study nuclear reactions.

Nuclear race and power station research

The US tried to overtake the USSR in the development of nuclear energy. American politicians and scientists did not recognize the Obninsk nuclear power plant as an industrial facility, calling it rather a scientific center. They claimed that the world's first nuclear power plant was the nuclear power plant in Shippingport, Pennsylvania, which was launched in 1958.

Who was really right? In favor of their version, the Americans cited the fact that the Obninsk NPP was not only not profitable, but there was no data on the amount of heat and electricity generated by it in the first years of its operation.

Soviet scientists responded by saying that in the early years of its existence, the world's first power plant operated in various test modes in order to determine the best operating mode. Immediately after the launch, the Obninsk power plant consumed more electricity than it produced.

The same facility also provided training for the crews of Soviet nuclear submarines.

Station closure and accident rumors

Now the power plant is not in operation. Its reactors were permanently shut down in 2002. The fact is that for research purposes it wasis no longer suitable, besides, due to outdated technologies and equipment, the station did not bring profit.

The legend of nuclear energy has always been the object of various rumors among the population. Among local residents, it is generally accepted that the radiation background near the nuclear power plant is higher than in other parts of the city. The population of Obninsk is still afraid of being exposed to radiation, so they bypass the power plant. Often rumors about an accident, harmful emissions, leakage of radiation and radioactive waste from the Obninsk nuclear power plant can be heard in the suburbs and in Moscow. The strangest thing is that such conversations began to actively spread among the people after the power plant was closed.

Museum at the Station

Currently, the most interesting museum of nuclear energy in Russia is the Obninsk NPP. Tours are held here regularly. Some facts about the station are of particular interest to visitors to this museum. For example, despite the closure of the power plant in 2002, it was never officially decommissioned. This gives rise to new rumors and talk about her.

It is authentically known that after the closure of the enterprise, the nuclear reactor was cleaned of radioactive fuel. The reactor was also partially dismantled. What happened to the graphite rods - the moderators of nuclear reactions - was not reported to the masses.

The more mysterious and interesting the rumors, the more visitors the Obninsk NPP attracts to the museum. The photo at the main entrance to the power plant indoors with reactor control panels annually makes a lot ofenergy students who come here on a field trip.

Results

Obninsk NPP is remarkable not so much for its technology and power generation. She is more of a symbol. The United States of America is known for being the first in the world to explode atomic bombs, while the USSR, on the contrary, was the first in the world to start using atomic energy for peaceful purposes. Obninsk NPP is a legendary enterprise, not only and not so much because it became the world's first nuclear power plant, it was also the largest research institute for the study of nuclear reactions and nuclear energy in the USSR in those years.