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Nuclear plant planned for Russian Arctic
A shipyard in St. Petersburg has installed two 35-megawatt nuclear reactors in a floating nuclear power station intended for use in the Russian Arctic, Rosatom, the Russian Federation’s nuclear power corporation, announced on Oct. 2. The vessel, called the Akademik Lomonosov, is designed as a 474-foot barge, for towing to wherever it is needed before being moored in place. Intended as a mobile power source for use in remote Arctic regions, the Russians have planned to build up to seven of these vessels, with several of the vessels apparently earmarked to support the Arctic oil and gas operations of Russian gas company Gazprom.
Delivery planned in 2016 Following construction delays after the vessel’s keel was first laid in April 2007, Rosatom now says that the Akademik Lomonosov will be delivered in September 2016 for deployment near the port of Pevek on the Chukotka Peninsula, on the coast of the East Siberian Sea.
Construction of the vessel seems to have had a checkered history. Apparently, in 2010 the keel had been moved from the shipyard where the project had been started to the St. Petersburg yard. But work stopped in mid-2011 after the vessel’s hull had been launched, when that second shipyard became embroiled in bankruptcy proceedings. Work restarted in December 2012, when a state-owned shipbuilding company took over the yard.
According to OKBM, the Russian company that built the nuclear reactors for the vessel, the power plant has been designed to more than withstand any potential shock, such as a marine collision or the impact of a tsunami.
—Alan Bailey
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