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21 August 2026, 11:17
2026-08-21
Students of Lviv Polytechnic University designed a concept of a nuclear power plant in 2100 in three days. What does it look like?
Three graduates of Lviv Polytechnic University created a concept for a nuclear power plant of the future with two reactors, semi-underground buildings, and a cooling tower-greenhouse in three days. The project won first place in the all-Ukrainian competition "Nuclear Facility 2100".
Three graduates of Lviv Polytechnic University created a concept for a nuclear power plant of the future with two reactors, semi-underground buildings, and a cooling tower-greenhouse in three days. The project won first place in the all-Ukrainian competition "Nuclear Facility 2100".
This was reported by the Lviv Polytechnic National University.
The concept was developed by graduates of the Institute of Architecture and Design, Natalia Honchar, Vitaliy Bihun, and Iryna Chom, along with Associate Professor Leonid Voznyuk. The team had practically no experience with nuclear architecture before, so they had to figure out in a short time how a nuclear power plant works: what happens in a reactor, why steam generators and turbines are needed, and how all these parts affect the layout of the plant.
The students located the site for the mock-up station near Mykolaiv because of the industrial importance of the region, open areas, and access to water. In architecture, the team decided to combine brutalism with nature. Part of the technical and administrative premises were sunk into the ground, and the roofs were turned into green slopes. This way, the buildings should stand out less from the environment, and the landscaping should additionally act as thermal insulation. And reservoirs were placed between the structures. According to the authors, water can also be used in the event of a fire.
Visualization.
In the center of the station, the students placed two 1000 MW power units. They took the American AP1000 reactor from Westinghouse as a basis. The AP1000 belongs to generation III+ reactors and uses passive safety systems. For example, in the event of a loss of external power supply, the system can remove heat from the reactor for a certain period of time without the operation of pumps and operator intervention - thanks to natural circulation, gravity and water reserves.
The most unusual part of the project is the cooling tower-greenhouse. Usually, a cooling tower helps remove excess heat from a power plant. In this project, the students proposed to surround it with a glass shell with vertical gardening and use some of that heat to maintain the temperature inside.
Previously, dev.ua reported on small modular reactors, which Ukraine is also considering for future energy projects.
