Vol 120, No 4 (2016)

The results of a comparative analysis of the materials and technical-economic indices of a nuclear power system with open and closed fuel cycles are presented. A full account is given of the validation and the conditions for transitioning to a two-component nuclear power system with a closed nuclear fuel cycle with thermal and fast reactors.

Precision (benchmark) experiments on uranium systems with different moderators performed at the National Research Center Kurchatov Institute in a wide range of enrichment, ratios between the nuclear concentration of the moderator and uranium, as well as temperature are reviewed. The requirements of the arrangement of the experiments and participation of Russian specialists in international projects for the evaluation of the benchmark-experiments in terms of the critical nuclear safety (ICSBEP) and evaluated reactor-physical benchmark-experiments (IRPhEP) (NEA OECD) are discussed. The evolution of the experimental base required for performing such experiments and its current status are briefl y discussed.

The main results of a scientific analysis of stopped nuclear and radiation dangerous objects performed within the framework of government programs are examined. Solved problems and tasks requiring further analysis are analyzed in the context of the following directions: the objectives and boundary conditions for safety analysis, development of a normative-legal base, inventorying and ranking of nuclear and radiation dangerous objects according to the level of potential danger, computational and experimental validation of safety, including the final state of the objects at mothballing, comprehensive engineering-radiation examination of nuclear and radiation dangerous objects, and development of new methods and technologies for decontamination and disassembly. Three groups of situations associated with the readiness of the solutions for adoption in practice are singled out on the basis of the analysis.

The factors supporting the safety of atomic energy are discussed. It is underscored that all factors considered in the generally accepted nuclear-safety strategy must be fully taken into account and implemented in order to achieve this goal.

The principle of affi ne similarity of the primary curves of deformation or fracture of a single family is used to formulate the hypothesis of a unique curve in application to long-time strength and models of longevity and models of longevity are analyzed using an exponential-power law representation. The possibilities of predicting the long-time strength of high-temperature steel and alloys on the basis of the longevity law introduced are checked on long-time experiments.