Light water graphite reactor

The light water graphite reactor (LWGR) is a design of nuclear reactor that uses purified graphite as a neutron moderator and light water (H2O) as a liquid coolant. Due to the superior moderating properties of graphite, natural uranium can be used as a fuel, avoiding enrichment.

The design was developed during the Manhattan Project, in a horizontal layout, first used in the 1944 B Reactor, also the world's first large-scale reactor. The Project's Hanford Site constructed nine LWGRs in total for plutonium production, used throughout the Cold War.[1] The Soviet Union subsequently developed a vertical design for use in military plutonium production reactors, constructed at Mayak, the Siberian Chemical Combine in Seversk, and the Mining and Chemical Combine in Zhelenogorsk.[2] China's nuclear weapons program also developed two military plutonium production LWGRs.[3] Reactors used for plutonium production in the nuclear weapons programs of the United Kingdom, France, and North Korea used gas-cooled reactors (GCRs) moderated by graphite, while those used by Israel, India, and Pakistan were believed to be heavy water reactors (HWRs).

The Soviet Union also developed civilian power prototypes eventually into the RBMK design, the only widespread use of LWGRs for commercial nuclear power plants.[4] RBMKs use slightly enriched uranium (<2% 235U).

Selected examples of LWGRs
Reactor Country Criticality date Initial power

(MWth)

Notes Refs.
B Reactor United States 26 September 1944 250 First LWGR, twin D and F reactors built under Manhattan Project [1]
A-1 Soviet Union 10 June 1948 100 First Soviet plutonium production reactor; in Mayak [2]
AM-1 Soviet Union 6 May 1954 30 First LWGR to generate electricity [5]
AMB-100 Soviet Union 1 September 1963 286 SCWR test? [6]
N Reactor United States 8 December 1963 4000 Also Hanford Site, shutdown following Chernobyl disaster [1]
AMB-200 Soviet Union 10 October 1967 530 SCWR test? [7]
Chernobyl Reactor 4 Soviet Union 26 November 1983 3200 Reactor exploded in 1986, worst nuclear accident in history [8]
Jiuquan reactor China 1966 ~250 China's first plutonium production reactor, military use [3]
Guangyan reactor China 1973 ~250 Third Front facility, military use [3]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Plutonium: The First 50 Years". FAS Project on Government Secrecy (1991-2021). 1994-09-30. Retrieved 2025-06-17.
  2. ^ a b Rhodes, Richard (1995). Dark Sun. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. p. 276. ISBN 978-0-684-80400-2.
  3. ^ a b c Zhang, Hui (2011-04-25). "China's HEU and Plutonium Production and Stocks". Science & Global Security. 19 (1): 68–89. doi:10.1080/08929882.2011.566469. ISSN 0892-9882. Retrieved 2025-06-17.
  4. ^ Panov, Aleksei; Trapeznikov, Alexander; Trapeznikova, Vera; Korzhavin, Alexander (2022). "Influence of operation of thermal and fast reactors of the Beloyarsk NPP on the radioecological situation in the cooling pond. Part 1: Surface water and bottom sediments". Nuclear Engineering and Technology. 54 (8). Elsevier BV: 3034–3042. doi:10.1016/j.net.2022.03.004. ISSN 1738-5733.
  5. ^ "APS 1 Obninsk". World Nuclear Association. 1951-01-01. Retrieved 2025-06-17.
  6. ^ "Beloyarsk 1". World Nuclear Association. 1958-06-01. Retrieved 2025-06-17.
  7. ^ "Beloyarsk 2". World Nuclear Association. 1962-01-01. Retrieved 2025-06-17.
  8. ^ "Chernobyl 4". World Nuclear Association. 1979-04-01. Retrieved 2025-06-17.
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