BN-350 reactor, Nuclear reactor in Aktau, Kazakhstan
The BN-350 reactor is a decommissioned fast breeder reactor in Aktau, a coastal city on the Caspian Sea in western Kazakhstan. It was designed to generate electricity and desalinate seawater at the same time to supply the surrounding region.
Construction started in 1964 and the reactor was connected to the power grid in 1973. It ran for 26 years before being permanently shut down in 1999 and later placed into a safe storage condition.
For decades, the people of Aktau depended on this single facility for both electricity and drinking water in a desert with no natural freshwater sources. That dependency shaped everyday life in a way that few cities in the world have experienced.
The site is not open to the public and sits within a restricted security area. Those interested in learning more about the reactor's history can ask at local museums or visitor centers in Aktau.
Although the reactor is known as an energy source, it also produced plutonium as a byproduct of its normal operation. This made it one of the very few civilian reactors in the world with such a dual role during the Cold War era.
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