Construction of the world’s first floating nuclear power plant has begun in Russia by a joint venture of nuclear ship builders Sevmash and nuclear technology firm Rosenergoatom.
The base section of the plant, Academic Lomonosov, has been officially laid at the Sevmash yards in Severodvinsk.
Sergey Obozov and Vladimir Pastukhov, the heads of Rosenergoatom and Sevmash respectively, have signed a declaration of intent to build a series of floating nuclear plants from 2008–2016 with construction time falling to three years from four by the third unit.
Rosenergoatom is also planning to increase the rector capacity from the units currently based on 70MWe ice breaker KLT40C reactors to medium capacity plants based on nuclear submarines with a capacity of 300–400MWe. The first plant’s reactors have been designed by I I Afrikantov Experimental Design Bureau of Machine Building (OKBM).
The Academic Lomonosov, to be developed at a cost of $200 million, is to be launched in 2010 with most of the electricity produced supplied to Sevmash, and just 20% sold.
The concern is considering six possible sites in the power starved northeastern region for additional units, including the Kamchatka, Chukotka, Jakutia and Krasnoyarsk regions. By 2015 Rosenergoatom plans to create a fleet of seven floating plants.
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