Cogeneration in the former Soviet Union

The former Soviet Union made a major commitment to cogeneration. The scale and nature of this commitment created a system conceptually different from cogeneration in the west. The differences were both in scale, in political commitment, and in socio economic impact. This paper addresses some of the largest scale cogeneration programs, the technology, and the residual impact of these programs. The integration of the cogeneration and nuclear programs is a key focus of the paper. Soviet designed nuclear power plants were designed to produce both electricity and heat for residential and industrial uses. Energy systems used to implement this design approach are discussed. The significant dependence on these units for heat, created an urgent need for continued operation during the winter. Electricity and heat are also produced in nuclear weapons production facilities, as well as power plants. The Soviets also had designed, and initiated construction of a number of nuclear power plants “ATETs” optimized for production of heat as well as electricity. These were canceled