Elena-M (atomic thermoelectric station)

2023: Product Announcement

On April 12, 2023, the Kurchatov Institute, a national research center, announced the development of the so-called "nuclear battery," which is expected to help provide energy to hard-to-reach areas throughout Russia. We are talking about a low-power nuclear thermoelectric station (ATST) "Elena-M."

This is a fundamentally new thing. This is a nuclear power plant in the form of a "battery"... It provides up to a megawatt of electricity and 10 megawatts of heat. This "battery" will make it possible to equip the Northern Sea Route and all our regions - hard-to-reach places are very easy to supply with energy, "said Mikhail Kovalchuk, President of the Kurchatov Institute, speaking on April 12, 2023 at the Federation Council at the opening of an exhibition dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Kurchatov Institute.

Elena-M gives up to a megawatt of electricity and 10 megawatts of heat

The purpose of the Elena-M station is to provide heat, electricity and fresh water to consumers in remote areas, including the Arctic. This installation uses the direct (machine-free) principle of converting thermal energy into electrical energy. Elena-M is designed to operate in self-regulation mode in the entire range of electrical load and does not need maintenance - the presence of personnel will be necessary only during installation, start-up and dismantling of the plant. For the entire life of the plant, 25-30 years, one load of nuclear fuel is enough. A demonstration prototype of the installation by April 2023 works at the Kurchatov Institute.

In March 2023, it became known that Rosatom is considering the possibility of building a pilot nuclear thermoelectric heat supply station Elena-AM, designed for small hard-to-reach villages. According to materials on the public procurement website, the state corporation ordered the development of a reactor project and technological equipment for such a station, the contract price is 3 billion rubles.^[1]

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