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 of the BN-350 began in 1964 at the Mangyshlak plant in Shevchenko, now Aktau. The reactor first produced electricity in 1973 and was also used to desalinate water and produce plutonium. Its design life ended in 1993, but operation continued below capacity until 1999, when it was shut down and placed under a staged decommissioning plan.
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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