The developmental history of the series-produced core for nuclear icebreakers and its conceptual and structural designs and the computational-methodological base of the physical design are presented. The fundamental differences from VVER-type power reactor cores, which are due to the specific operating conditions of ice breakers, are discussed. Measurements of the basic neutronic characteristics of a series-produced icebreaker core are presented and compared with calculations performed with the tested software system VKN-02. Experimental data confirm that the accuracy of the VKN-02 system in calculating the neutronic characteristics determining nuclear safety and the thermal engineering reliability of an icebreaker core is acceptable.
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Translated from Atomnaya Énergiya, Vol. 126, No. 1, pp. 19–26, January, 2019.
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Dvoinishnikov, E.A., Makarov, V.I., Promokhov, A.G. et al. Concept Selection and Neutronic Characteristics of Nuclear Icebreaker Cores. At Energy 126, 21–28 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10512-019-00508-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10512-019-00508-2