The first floating nuclear power plant in the world, “Akademik Lomonosov“, began producing electricity yesterday, Thursday, December 19th.
Rosatom announced, in a statement: “In the city of Pevek (Chukotka Autonomous District), the floating nuclear power plant (the state company Rosatom Corporation) produced the first electric energy to an isolated electrical network at the Chaun-Bilibino junction of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug in the city of Pevek.”
The company noted that the plant will enter the commercial operation phase and will be linked to heating networks in the city of Pevek in 2020.
The floating nuclear power station consists of the floating power generation unit “Akademik Lomonosov” and coastal hydraulic installations, the purpose of which is to supply the Chukotka District with electric energy and to provide heating to the city of Pevek, which creates favorable economic conditions to advance the region’s economy, including infrastructure development under the North Sea Road development program.
The plant is equipped with two KLT – 40S reactors that are used in icebreakers, with a total capacity of 70 MW of electricity and 50 GCal / hour of heat.
Russia plans to use this type of plants to supply electricity to offshore oil and gas platforms and to exploit the Arctic shelf fortunes; as it provides the necessary electricity to the remote northern regions, where there is no infrastructure of roads and electricity.
