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NIKIET

Founded 1946 · Active

Also known as Dollezhal Institute, N. A. Dollezhal Research and Development Institute of Power Engineering

NIKIET, the Dollezhal Research and Development Institute of Power Engineering, is a Russian reactor design centre whose history begins in 1946 with the design of the first Soviet plutonium production reactor. It designed the reactors of the first Soviet nuclear submarine and the RBMK graphite-moderated channel reactor used at Leningrad, Kursk and Smolensk and formerly at Chernobyl and Ignalina. It is the chief designer of BREST-OD-300, a 300 MWe lead-cooled fast reactor with uranium-plutonium nitride fuel and an on-site closed fuel cycle, and of the SHELF-M and UNITHERM small reactors listed in the IAEA's 2024 catalogue.

Sector
Fission
Technology
Lead fast reactor
Role
Reactor developer, Research institute

Terms

Lead fast reactor
Molten lead or lead-bismuth coolant, fast and unmoderated. Does not burn in air or react violently with water, unlike sodium, at the cost of weight and corrosion engineering. Fuel is typically nitride or mixed-oxide.

Designs

Design Developer Approach Electrical output per unit Size class Licensing stage
SHELF-M NIKIET with Rosatom Pressurised water reactor 10 MWe planned Microreactor No milestone recorded
UNITHERM NIKIET with Rosatom Pressurised water reactor 6.6 MWe planned Microreactor No milestone recorded

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Sources