THERMOPHYSICAL INVESTIGATIONS: FROM THE FIRST TO STAND LARGE-SCALE NUCLEAR ENERGY

The article presents the main research results of thermal physicists of the IPPE from its inception to the present time. Research results in the areas of heat and mass transfer and hydrodynamics of coolants (liquid metals, water), physical chemistry and technology of liquid metal coolants for nuclear power plants for various purposes (nuclear power plants, nuclear submarines, space nuclear power plants), development codes, innovative projects, non-nuclear technologies for the use of liquid metals, heat pipes, analysis and generalization of thermophysical data are considered in the article. As a result of a large complex of experimental and computational studies, the fundamental physicochemical and thermohydraulic regularities of the coolant - impurities - structural materials - protective gas have been studied, scientific foundations have been created for the use of liquid metal coolants in nuclear power. Studies have been carried out to substantiate the technical and economic characteristics of nuclear fuel for operating, under construction and future NPPs of VVER RP, design solutions for passive safety, technical solutions and hydrogen safety devices, heat removal from the reactor through a steam generator and PHRS in case of beyond design basis accidents. As well as design solutions and safety for NPP designs with BN-1200 reactor with sodium coolant, BREST-OD-300 reactor with lead coolant, SVBR-100 reactor with lead-bismuth alloy, MBIR research reactor. The results of these studies made it possible, together with institutes and design organizations, to scientifically substantiate thermal-hydraulic parameters and highly efficient technological processes, develop and practically implement devices and systems that ensure the successful operation of fundamentally new nuclear power plants cooled by water and liquid metals, with original scientific and technical solutions that had no analogue in world practice. R&D works were carried out to substantiate the innovative project VVER with supercritical pressure, the concept of an electro-nuclear subcritical blanket based on the modular principle of constructing an core with liquid-salt melts of fissile materials, studies of thermal hydraulics, mass transfer of high-temperature sodium and the development of a combined coolant purification system to justify the BN-HT reactor with temperature sodium ~900 °C for hydrogen production. The directions of investigations at the present stage are discussed.