Russian floating nuclear power station
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 An artist's rendition of the Academician Lomonosov |
|
| Career | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Academician Lomonosov |
| Namesake: | Mikhail Lomonosov |
| Operator: | Russian Federal Atomic Energy Agency |
| Port of registry: |  Russia |
| Builder: | Baltic Shipyard |
| Cost: | US$336 million (projected) |
| Laid down: | 15 April 2007 |
| Launched: | Planned for 2011 |
| Status: | Under construction |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Nuclear power station barge |
| Displacement: | 21,500 tonnes |
| Length: | 144 meters |
| Beam: | 30 meters |
| Notes: | 2 modified KLT-40S Nuclear Reactors (Icebreaker type) producing 70 MW electric or 300 MW heat power |
Floating nuclear power stations (Russian term: плавучая атомная теплоэлектростанция малой мощности, АТЭС ММ) are vessels projected by Rosatom that present self-contained, low-capacity, floating nuclear power plants. The stations are to be mass-built at shipbuilding facilities and then towed to the destination point in coastal waters near a city, a town or an industrial enterprise. Although the world's first floating nuclear power station was MH-1A, the Rosatom project represents the first mass production of that kind of vessel.
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[edit] Technical description
The floating nuclear power station is a non-self-propelled vessel with a length of 144 metres (470 ft) and width of 30 metres (98 ft). It has a displacement of 21,500 tonnes[1] and a crew of 69 people.[2]
Each vessel has two modified KLT-40 naval propulsion reactors providing up to 70 MW of electricity or 300 MW of heat, enough for a city with population of 200,000 people. It could also be modified as a desalination plant producing 240,000 cubic meters of fresh water a day.[1][3] Another modification will be supplied by two ABV-6M reactors with a capacity of around 18 MWe (megawatts of electricity).[4] Also, 325 MWe VBER-300 and 55 MWe RITM-200 reactors have been mentioned as potential reactors to use for the floating nuclear power station.[5]
The hull and sections of the vessel will be built by the Baltic Shipyard in Saint Petersburg, while OKBM will design and supply the reactors, and Kaluga Turbine Plant will supply the turbo-generators.[6] By 2015, at least seven of the vessels are supposed to be built.[7]
[edit] Fueling
The plant needs to be refueled every three years while saving up to 200,000 metric tons of coal and 100,000 tons of fuel oil a year. The reactors are supposed to have a lifespan of 40 years. Every 12 years, the whole plant will be towed home and overhauled at the wharf where it was constructed. The disposal of the nuclear waste will be organized by the manufacturer and supported by the infrastructure of the Russian nuclear industry. Thus, virtually no radiation traces are expected at the place where the power station produced its energy.[1][3]
[edit] Safety
Environmental groups are concerned that floating plants will be more vulnerable to accidents and terrorism than land-based stations. They point to a history of naval and nuclear accidents in Russia and the former Soviet Union, including the Chernobyl disaster of 1986.[8]
Russia does have 50 years of experience operating a fleet of nuclear powered icebreakers that are also used for scientific and Arctic tourism expeditions. The Russians have commented that a nuclear reactor that sinks, such as the similar reactor involved in the Kursk explosion, can be raised and probably put back into operation.[8] At this time, it is not known what, if any, containment structure or associated missile shield will be built on the ship. The manufacturers believe that an airliner striking the ship would not destroy the reactor.[3] According to MosNews, a Russian news outlet, there is no way an airliner striking the ship would destroy the reactor.[3]
[edit] Locations
Floating nuclear power stations are planned to be used mainly in the Russian Arctic. Five of these will be used by Gazprom for offshore oil and gas field development and for operations on the Kola and Yamal peninsulas.[6] Other locations include Dudinka on the Taymyr Peninsula, Vilyuchinsk on the Kamchatka Peninsula and Pevek on the Chukchi Peninsula.[1] In 2007, Rosatom signed an agreement with the Sakha Republic to build a floating plant for its northern parts, using smaller ABV reactors.[6]
According to Rosatom, 15 countries, including China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Algeria, Namibia, Cape Verde and Argentina, have shown interest in hiring such a device.[6][7]
[edit] The Akademik Lomonosov
On 15 April 2007, the construction of the first floating nuclear power station, Akademik Lomonosov (named after academician Mikhail Lomonosov), was started. It is planned to be completed by 2011,[9] and it will serve as a prototype and a demonstration model.[10] The construction started at the Sevmash Submarine-Building Plant in Severodvinsk. The celebrations were attended by the first deputy prime minister of Russia, Sergei Ivanov, and by the head of Rosatom, Sergei Kiriyenko.[11] Originally, Akademik Lomonosov was supposed to supply power to Severodvinsk town and SevMashZavod itself. However, in August 2008, the Russian government approved the transfer of work from Sevmash to the Baltic Shipyard in Saint Petersburg.[6] The Akademik Lomonosov will be deployed in 2012 at Vilyuchinsk, in the Kamchatka region in Russia's far east.[9]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d "Плавучая АЭС обогнала Америку. Новый проект российских атомщиков (Floating Nuclear Power Stations. Russia overcame America. New project by Russian Nuclear Scientists)" (in Russian). RIA Novosti. 2006-04-16. Archived from the original on 2006-06-20. http://web.archive.org/web/20060620132054/http://www.rian.ru/review/20060616/49610592.html.
- ^ "Two floating nuclear plants for Chukotka". World Nuclear News. 2007-04-05. http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/newsarticle.aspx?id=13196&LangType=2057. Retrieved 2008-12-30.
- ^ a b c d "Russia to Build World’s First Floating Nuclear Power Station for $200,000". MOS news. 2005-09-09. Archived from the original on 2005-09-24. http://web.archive.org/web/20050924205841/http://www.mosnews.com/money/2005/09/09/floatingnuclearplant.shtml. Retrieved 2008-11-08.
- ^ "Floating a nuclear power plant in Yakutia". World Nuclear News. 2007-10-30. http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/newsarticle.aspx?id=14306&LangType=2057. Retrieved 2008-12-30.
- ^ "Nuclear Power in Russia". World Nuclear Association. December 2008. http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf45.html. Retrieved 2008-12-30.
- ^ a b c d e "Russia relocates construction of floating power plant". World Nuclear News. 2008-08-11. http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/NN-Russia_relocates_construction_of_floating_power_plant-1108084.html. Retrieved 2008-12-30.
- ^ a b "Россия построит серию плавучих АЭС (Russia will built series of Floating NPS)" (in Russian). Vzglyad. 2007-04-15. http://www.vz.ru/news/2007/4/15/77501.html. Retrieved 2008-11-08.
- ^ a b "Floating nuclear power stations raise spectre of Chernobyl at sea". The Times. April 17, 2007. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article1662889.ece. Retrieved 2008-11-08.
- ^ a b "Reactors ready for floating plant". World Nuclear News. 07 August 2009. http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/NN-Reactors_ready_for_first_floating_plant-0708094.html. Retrieved 2009-08-05.
- ^ "Первая в России плавучая АЭС будет сдана в Северодвинске к 2010 г – С.Иванов (The first Floating Nuclear Power Station will be built to 2010 - says Sergey Ivanov)" (in Russian). 2007-04-09. http://www.prime-tass.ru/news/show.asp?id=676624&ct=news. Retrieved 2008-11-08.
- ^ Mikhail Kukushkin (2007-04-16). "Плавучие АЭС готовят к экспорту (Floating NPS are ready for export)" (in Russian). Vremya Novostey. http://www.vremya.ru/2007/66/8/176264.html. Retrieved 2008-11-08.
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