Russia’s floating nuclear plant takes on fuel

• 5 years ago (2018-05-23)
• David Flin

Europe 1061 Nuclear 639

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The world’s first floating nuclear power plant is taking on fuel and preparing for its inaugural mission in the Russian Arctic.

The Akademik Lomonosov arrived at Murmansk earlier this week, after a 4000 km voyage from the St Petersburg shipyard where it was built. The vessel is expected to take on fuel until it sets off to power a community near Chukotka in Russia’s far east next year.

The barge is the first of what is expected to be a new generation of nuclear power plants designed to operate offshore in areas with difficult access. Rosatom of Russia plans to build several more of these vessels, and China is expected to launch one of its own in 2020.

The Akademik Lomonsov measures 144 m in length and 30 m in width, and it carries two 35 MW reactors. The reactors are similar to those found in Russia’s nuclear icebreakers.

Rosatom said that the plant will have a lifecycle of 40 years, with the possibility that this could be extended by 10 years. It added that the net environmental impact will be overwhelmingly positive once it replaces an old coal-fired power plant.

Akira Tokuhiro, Dean of Energy Systems and Nuclear Science at Canada’s University of Ontario Institute of Technology, said that in addition to powering remote communities and mining operations, mobile nuclear power plants could also be very useful in disaster relief situations.