On April 11, 2012 the members of the United States Department of Energy (DOE) visited Beloyarsk NPP.

The delegation of a total number of 13 people included the United States Department of Energy’s Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy Dr. Peter B. Lyons, the DOE assistant deputy administrator for fissile materials disposition Peter H. Hanlon, as well as a team of other managers and experts of the U.S. Department of Energy, Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).

The participants visited the operating BN-600 power unit and the construction site of BN-800 power unit. During the meeting with the front office of Beloyarsk NPP and Directorate of Beloyarsk NPP II under Construction, the guests were provided with the information on technical and economic achievements in BN-600 power unit operation and construction progress of BN-800 power unit.

The representatives of the U.S. Department of Energy took interest in organizing safe operation of fast neutron reactors. Many questions were asked concerning the possibilities of engineering materials research, different fuel types testing with the use of fast neutron reactors, as well as prospects for international cooperation in the field.

The members of the delegation showed a keen interest in the ways to further development of fast neutron reactors in Russia and works on the formation of closed nuclear fuel cycle.

“Russia has a very important experience in operating fast neutron reactors,” noted the Head of the U.S. delegation Dr. Peter B. Lyons. “One of the prime objectives of our visit was striving for exploring the possibility of cooperation between our countries in the field of the civil nuclear power.”

The Beloyarsk NPP was commissioned in April 1964. It’s the first nuclear power plant of the largest nuclear power engineering of the country and the only one with different operating reactors at the same plant. The first Beloyarsk NPP power units with the thermal reactors of AMB-100 and AMB-200 have been stopped due to resource exhaustion. The power unit with BN-600 fast neutron reactor of industrial power level nowadays operates as the unique in the world. The power unit with BN-800 fast neutron reactor is at present under construction. The fast neutron power units are designed to significantly expand the fuel base of the nuclear power engineering and minimize RAW by means of closed NFC management.

On line data on the radiation environment near nuclear power plants in Russia and other nuclear facilities is provided on site russianatom.ru