VVER-1000 Reactor
Soviet-designed nuclear power plants differ from Western nuclear power plants in many respects, including safety systems -- only the VVER-1000 design has a containment structure like that of most nuclear power plants elsewhere in the world. Although it shares a basic engineering concept with its counterparts in the United States, France and Japan, the Soviet VVER pressurized water design is very different. VVER is an acronym for Vodo-Vodyannoy Energeticheskiy Reactor (water-cooled, water-moderated).
The VVER-1000 design was developed between 1975 and 1985 based on the requirements of a new Soviet nuclear standard that incorporated some international practices, particularly in the area of plant safety. The evolutionary design incorporates safety improvements over earlier VVER-440 Model V213 plants, including a steel-lined, pre-stressed, large-volume concrete containment structure similar in function to Western nuclear plants.
Four primary coolant loops (providing multiple paths for cooling the reactor), each with a horizontal steam generator (for better heat transfer), which together provide a large volume of coolant. In some respects this design is more forgiving than Western plant designs with two, three or four large vertical steam generators.
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