Russia’s Machine-Building Plant in Elektrostal near Moscow (MSZ – MashinoStroitelnii Zavod, part of Rosatom’s fuel company TVEL), has shipped fresh nuclear fuel for the second reactor of the floating NPP (PATES – Plavuchaya Atomnaya TeploElektroStantsiya) Akademik Lomonosov in the city of Pevek, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. The nuclear plant includes two KLT-40S reactor units, previously used to power ice-breakers). In these reactors, nuclear fuel replacement is different from the system used in standard NPPs. Instead of partial replacement of fuel once every 12-18 months, in a PATES, it is replaced once every few years with a complete unloading of the entire reactor core and a full load of fresh fuel.
The core of the KLT-40S consists of fuel assemblies, control rods and neutron launch sources. Before being sent to the floating nuclear power plant, the fuel assemblies were accepted by a commission including a representative of the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping.
The replacement of nuclear fuel at the first reactor plant (the starboard, or right, side) of the PATES took place at the end of 2023. The first reloading of the reactor on the port (left) side is planned before the end of 2024. This will be a significant milestone as both reactor plants will then have completed their first fuel cycle on a regular basis.
Floating power plant Akademik Lomonosov is the world’s first floating nuclear power unit, which launched a new era in transportable low-power nuclear energy. Serial floating power units based upgraded RITM reactors are becoming a high-tech solution for reliable and cost-effective power supply to coastal and isolated regions in Russia. Currently, such units are under construction to supply electricity to one of the largest projects in the non-ferrous metals sector. In the Arctic zone alone, the demand for floating power units is estimated at up to 15 units. Dozens of countries and regions are now showing interest in PATES units.
Akademik Lomonosov was connected to the power grid in December 2019, and began commercial operation in May 2020. The total power supplied to the coastal network of Pevek without consumption of thermal energy by the shore, is about 76 MWe, and 44 MWt. Electricity generation from the plant at the end of 2023 amounted to 194m kWh. The population of Pevek is just over 4,000 while Akademik Lomonosov can potentially provide electricity to a city with a population of up to 100,000.
Such plants solve two problems for the region. Firstly, Akademik Lomonosov is a replacement for the retiring capacities of the Bilibino NPP, which has been operating since 1974, and for the Chaunskaya thermal power plant, which is already more than 70 years old. Secondly, new units with RITM reactors now under construction will supply energy to major mining enterprises located in western Chukotka including a large ore and metal cluster, including gold mining companies and projects related to the development of the Baimsky ore zone.
In September 2023, a 110 kilovolt 490-kilometer-long power transmission line was put into operation, connecting the cities of Pevek and Bilibino. The line has increased the reliability of power supply from Akademik Lomonosov to both Bilibino consumers and mining enterprises, the largest of which is the Baimsky GOK (Gorna Obogatitelnii Kombinat – mining and processing plant).
