Russia to Build Floating Nuclear Plant

Russia's Federal Nuclear Energy Agency has announced its intentions to build the world's first floating nuclear power plant (FNPP) as early as 2006.

The plant will produce roughly 1/150th of the power produced by a standard Russian NPP (using a VVER-1000 water-cooled reactor). Construction could begin in 2006.

The mini-station will be located in the White Sea, off the coast of the town of Severodvinsk (in the Arkhangelsk region in northern Russia). It will be moored near the Sevmash plant, which is the main facility of the State Nuclear Shipbuilding Center. The FNPP will be equipped with two power units using KLT-40S reactors. The plant will meet all of Sevmash's energy requirements for just 5 or 6 cents per kilowatt. If necessary, the plant will also be able to supply heat and desalinate seawater.

"If conditions are favorable, the floating plant could be operational in four to five years' time," said Yevgeny Kuzin, general director of the public joint-stock company Malaya Energetika. By "conditions," Kuzin, who is the project leader, means funding. The nuclear "baby" will cost about $200,000. Kuzin says that it will be hard to secure the necessary money.

... Kuzin says these vessels have shown themselves to be highly reliable and that they do not have any kind of radioactive impact on the environment. "When the plant is decommissioned and pulled out, it leaves absolutely no pollution," he said.

.... The plant will save up to 200,000 metric tons of coal and 100,000 tons of fuel oil a year.

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