Russia launches the world’s first floating nuclear power plant

Multiple nations, including China and the US, have pursued offshore or floating nuclear reactors, but neither will be first to christen one. Russia has launched the world’s first floating nuclear power plant, the 70-megawatt Academik Lomonosov, on the Baltic Sea. Starting from St. Petersberg, it will be towed around Norway to a Russian town called Murmansk to take on nuclear fuel. From there, it will head to the Arctic to power the 100,000-person city of Pevek, along with a desalination plant and oil rigs.

The state-run company that owns the ship, Rosatom, originally planned to load the nuclear barge with fuel at St. Petersberg, then send it directly to Pevek. But Greenpeace and several Baltic states mounted a successful petition, so the firm decided to load and test it in Murmansk, instead.

Greenpeace and other environmental groups still don’t think this is a great idea, though. “Moving the testing of this ‘nuclear Titanic’ away from the public eye will not make [the testing less irresponsible],” said Greenpeace nuclear expert Jan Haverkamp. “Nuclear reactors bobbing around the Arctic Ocean will pose a shockingly obvious threat to a fragile environment which is already under enormous pressure from climate change.”

The nuclear ship will replace a 48-megawatt nculear power plant in the Pevek region. It was likely easier to build the ship in St. Petersberg then transport everything wholesale by sea, rather than build a new plant in such a remote place. “The pier, hydraulic engineering structures, and other buildings, crucial for the mooring of [the floating power plant] will be ready to use upon Akademik Lomonosov arrival,” said Rosatom in a press release.

Russia relies heavily on petroleum for its economy, and like other nations, has staked claims to the oil-rich Arctic. Ironically, fossil fuel burning is primarily responsible for the global warming that’s rapidly melting Arctic ice, which is opening up new shipping lanes from Russia — and making further oil exploration possible.

Via: Ars Technica

Source: Rosatom