The World Edition - Environment - Floating Nuclear Power Plants to be Built in Russia

Floating Nuclear Power Plants to be Built in Russia

By Billy Malfese
OCTOBER 5, 2007

Russia is building the world's first floating nuclear plant, designed to provide power for remote areas of the country to be introduced as early as 2011.The nuclear power plants are a vital element of the national energy program, and are being developed in order to meet growing power demand in isolated Russian areas.

The Russian Far East faces regular power outages because the local power industry is not very reliable. Russia started building the floating plant at the Arctic port of Severodvinsk in April, and is expected to build six more nuclear power plants of its kind within a decade. Shaped like a small island, it will power the area’s social infrastructure, and will generate heat and even desalinate seawater. It is expected that the floating power plants will range from about seven to twelve acres in size to start.

The first floating nuclear power plant will have a capacity of 70 MW of electricity, and about 300 MW of thermal power. The cost of the first plant is estimated at $400 million, but could later be reduced to $240 million. A second floating nuclear power plant will be towed using Russia's northern sea route through the Arctic Ocean to the small town of Pevek and will provide the local seaport and meteorological station, as well as gold, tin, and coal mines with an unlimited amount of electricity.

A Russian nuclear official said that over 20 countries were interested in buying Russia's floating nuclear power plants. Russia will not offer the floating nuclear power plant to all prospective customers but will sell its heat, power and drinking water instead to anyone.

The nuclear power plants are expected to be widely used in remote regions with power shortfalls and also in the implementation of projects requiring stand-alone and uninterrupted electricity supplies in the absence of a developed power grid. Russia currently generates up to 17% of its electricity from 31 reactors at 10 sites, and President Vladimir Putin has said he would like to increase the figure to 25% in the near future.

Besides the two reactors, the floating nuclear power plant has technical facilities and accommodations for the crew and can be connected to coastal transformers, pumps and heating mains. When operating at full capacity, it can power a city with a population of 200,000 or desalinate 240,000 cubic meters of seawater every 24 hours.

This technological marvel will raise quite a few eyebrows and may cause apprehension, because the world still fears everything connected with nuclear power. Officials state that these plants would not threaten the environment in any way, because nuclear fuel would be transported separately and loaded onboard plants in isolated bodies of water surrounded by dams.

The power plants have been designed in a way to make them invulnerable to terrorist attacks as well. The latest achievements of science and technology will prevent anyone from stealing nuclear materials from aboard the floating plant. All workers will be fingerprinted and their iris patterns used for identification purposes. The plant's sturdiness means it could even withstand a possible attack by divers or a plane crash, in which case its reactors would continue to function as usual.

These floating nuclear power plants may be a blessing for Russia, an enormous country with many sparsely populated areas surrounded by numerous seas. The power plants would be able to provide electricity and heat to the people and businesses in that area on a more reliable basis and be of great benefit. These floating nuclear power plants have a unique design making them environmentally safe and allowing them to be towed to nearly any location. Despite the cost to produce a plant, the benefits could be reaped worldwide in areas that are isolated and without dependable electricity.