[en] 25 years have passed since the first nuclear power plant in the Soviet Union started operation and thus laid the foundations for the development of a fundamentally new branch of economy - nuclear industry. At present the following nuclear power plants are operated in the Soviet Union: Belojarsk, Kola, Bilibino, Armenia, Leningrad, Kursk, and Tschernobylj, the number of power plant units amounting to 19, the total electric power to 0.09 GW. In total the plants have generated 44.8 billion kWh in 1978; for 1979 a total generation of 54 billion kWh is expected. By the following five-year plans the construction of nuclear power plants is to be still essentially extended: about 20% of the total electric power is planned to be produced by nuclear power plants. In the course of this extension the new nuclear power plants are planned to achieve individual capacities between 4 and 6 GW, the nuclear heating power plants 2 GW. In addition there will be facilities for nuclear production of heat only with a thermal output of up to 1 GW. (orig./UA)