Chernobyl at Sea? Russia Builds Floating Nuclear Plant

only reasonabe reason to have a nuke power plant on a boat is to move it somewhere.If it melts down it doesent matter all that much if its only a mile or less from the coast fall out will still effect the near by land.So i have to ask Why do they want a movable nucke power plant station.Could it be used as a weapon in disgise?Also woulnt the threat of earthquakes wich can damage groundbased plants be far less then the unpredictable storms at sea that could cause a disaster?This just doesnt sit well with me becuse theres no real reason to build a boat with a nuke plant on it,unless u plan on takeing it somewhere and melting it down,or u plan on useing it for a moble power plant to support millitary forces with it moveing behind the front lines.And i would think this wouldnt be a cost effective method to build reactors.So my question stands...... WHY?

Originally posted by devareous
only reasonabe reason to have a nuke power plant on a boat is to move it somewhere.

Not true. Making a nuclear plant that floats on the water- especially frigid water, makes a lot of sense from an engineering perspective. The biggest problem with nuclear power, technically speaking, is dealing with the enormous amount of heat generated by reactors. The enormous, iconic cooling towers that characterize most nuclear plants attest to this. Nuclear reactors use the nuclear material to heat water to steam, which in turn runs steam turbines to generate electricity. Once the steam has run through the turbines, you have to cool it back down again. That's what the enormous cooling towers- the most distinctive feature of land-based nuclear plants are for. If your plant is floating on ice-cold water, you simply run pipes through the water and cool your steam that way. It saves you the cost of building and maintaining huge cooling towers.




[edit on 4-5-2009 by moonwilson]

Originally posted by devareous
only reasonabe reason to have a nuke power plant on a boat is to move it somewhere.If it melts down it doesent matter all that much if its only a mile or less from the coast fall out will still effect the near by land.So i have to ask Why do they want a movable nucke power plant station.Could it be used as a weapon in disgise?Also woulnt the threat of earthquakes wich can damage groundbased plants be far less then the unpredictable storms at sea that could cause a disaster?This just doesnt sit well with me becuse theres no real reason to build a boat with a nuke plant on it,unless u plan on takeing it somewhere and melting it down,or u plan on useing it for a moble power plant to support millitary forces with it moveing behind the front lines.And i would think this wouldnt be a cost effective method to build reactors.So my question stands...... WHY?

Hmm I could say your grammar and spelling are a weapon in disguise. It makes all Americans look uneducated and no threat to the world, haha.

The premise is not actually that bad of an idea. Though a reactor can't "blow up," people are still reluctant to have nuclear reactors around them.

I'm a big supporter of nuclear power, so, it seems that anything increasing the exposure of this safe and clean fuel is a good thing. I am happy to see people thinking outside the box about this one.

Hopefully, though, as an earlier post said, that the Russians are better at making reactors at sea than they are at making ones on land.

Update:

The construction of the floating NPP goes as planned, and should be completed in 2011. They'll start contruction of a second vessel later this year.


Construction of floating NPP goes as planned

2010-04-20


Construction of the Russia’s first floating nuclear power plant continues. The vessel is designed to provide nuclear power in remote regions of the Arctic and should according to plan be completed in 2011.

[---]

Russia plans to build five such floating nuclear plants. Construction of the second vessel has been announced to start in autumn 2010.

Akademik Lomonosov

The world's first floating NPP will be set afloat today (Wednesday, June 30 2010).


BarentsObserver: Floating NPP to be set afloat

2010-06-29



The world’s first floating nuclear power plant will be set afloat on Wednesday. The plant will be operational in the Russian Arctic by the end of 2012.

The solemn ceremony marking the launching of the plant will take place at the Baltic shipyard in St. Petersburg on Wednesday June 30, reports the press office of Russia’s State nuclear Agency Rosatom.

After put on sea, the floating nuclear power plant, named Akademik Lomonosov, will be completed and undergo different stages of testing before it will sail to the north during the autumn 2012.

32 years of service

The plant will apparently be towed to Murmansk for maintenance every 4-5 years.



Floating nuclear power unit launched in St Petersburg

30.06.10


In Norway mass media and environmental organisations are speculating about that such a floating nuclear power unit will be used in connection with the Shtokman project.

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After completion at the Baltic shipyard in St. Petersburg, the plant will be towed along the Norwegian coast into the Arctic waters to Yakutia.

For maintenance and change of the spent highly radioactive fuel - normally after 4-5 years – the barge will be towed to Murmansk or Severodvinsk.

Russia floats barge for waterborne nuclear plant

Jun 30, 2010


Russia on Wednesday took a big step toward the controversial creation of the world's first floating nuclear power station, putting a barge that will house the plant into the water.

Environmentalists say Russia's plan to dot its northern coastline with floating nuclear power plants is risky.

[---]

Kiriyenko said nuclear fuel for the plant would be loaded later in the Murmansk region, further north, and the station towed to its place of operation. It would be hauled away after 32 years of service, he said, leaving the surrounding area "the same as before the station arrives."

Environmentalists are not convinced.

[---]

Kiriyenko said the floating plant, called the Academician Lomonosov, would have the capacity to produce 80 megawatts of electricity.

This thread amuses me. Fear monger much?

I hope the Russians build more of these floating Nuclear power stations that will enable them to electrify extremely remote regions with clean energy. 70 megawatt is rather small so hopefully they create a land based variant of the design that is easily transportable by rail.

The Akademik Lomonosov has been seized, as the shipyard that is building it appears to be on the brink of bankruptcy. The construction is said to continue.


Floating nuclear plant seized in bankruptcy proceedings

2011-08-16


The shipyard in St. Petersburg that is building Russia’s first floating nuclear power plant to be used in the Arctic appears on the brink of bankruptcy.

The Court of Arbitration seized the half-ready floating nuclear power plant after a request from Rosenergoatom, the state owned company that will operate the plant on the coast of the Russian Arctic, reports Kommersant.

The construction of the floating nuclear power plant is said to continue despite the economical troubles at the Baltiysky Zavod shipyard.

I have a probllem with russia building a floating reactor. there is little quality control in russia and substandard parts are likely to end up in the construction.

I don't have a problem with floating reactors if built right.

Built the plant with the reactor below the water line and the hot (radioactive) and cold heat exchanger also below the water line.

Build it so that sea water can circulate through the cold(not radioactive) side of the heat exchanger in a emergency.(no pump needed for the hot or cold side of the reactor)
And the valves to do this can be opened by power or hand if there is no power(loss of backup generators.

This would give you a self cooling melt down proof reactor.

Other things could be done like to build the reactor with a second "working" or "binary" fluid with a low boiling point, typically a butane or pentane hydrocarbon, is pumped at fairly high pressure (500 psi (3.4 MPa) through the heat exchanger, where it is vaporized and then directed through a turbine. The vapor exiting the turbine is then condensed by cold air radiators or cold water and cycled back through the heat exchanger.

This would allow the fuel rods to be spaced further apart and only heat the reactor water to a sub boiling point.

In a emergency the reactor would not need near as much cooling and that could be easily supplied by seawater.

The Akademik Lomonosov is to be operational by 2016.


World’s first floating nuclear power plant to begin operating in Russia in 2016

July 07, 2013


The unique vessel should be operational by 2016, the general director of Russia’s biggest shipbuilders, the Baltic Plant, Aleksandr Voznesensky told reporters at the 6th International Naval Show in St. Petersburg.

The Akademik Lomonosov is to become the spearhead of a series of floating nuclear power plants, which Russia plans to put into mass-production.

reply to post by Hellmutt

The Akademik Lomonosov is to become the spearhead of a series of floating nuclear power plants, which Russia plans to put into mass-production.

Mass production is the key to safer nuclear power. The custom one-offs are very expensive to build as they must all be inspected and approved individuallyas they are being built. Mass produced units only need to have their design approved once, and portable mass produced reactors have been used safely even in the 50's. Heres a video about a 'secret' Arctic installation that used a portable nuclear reactor for heat and electricity. About 20 minutes into the video is where the main info on setting up the reactor begins.
www.youtube.com...

Sounds like the latest Irish invention... like having flyscreens on a submarine

The Akademik Lomonosov has embarked on its first sea voyage.


Russia Launches Controversial Floating Nuclear Plant

April 28, 2018


A floating nuclear power built in Russia and widely criticized by environmentalists has embarked on its first sea voyage.

The floating plant, the Akademik Lomonosov, on April 28 was towed out of the St. Petersburg shipyard where it was constructed, according to Interfax.

It is to be pulled across the Baltic Sea and around the northern tip of Norway to Murmansk in northeast Russia, where the nuclear reactors are to be fueled, Russian nuclear officials told TASS.

Академик Ломоносов


Apr 28, 2018

a reply to: Hellmutt

During Katrina aftermath did the US navy not park a nuclear aircraft carrier in New Orleans port to provide electricity and to desalinate sea water to make it potable?

a reply to: proteus33

An aircraft carrier doesn't provide as much power as a dedicated power plant. And it's well protected against terror attacks, and probably better protected against natural disasters as well.

a reply to: Hellmutt

One of the two reactors aboard Russia's first floating nuclear power plant, Akademik Lomonosov, has achieved a sustained chain reaction for the first time. The second reactor will be started up and tests carried out before the plant is towed to Pevek next year.

World-nuclear-news.org, Nov. 5, 2018 - First reactor on Russia's floating plant starts up.

Fuel was loaded by the October. They said it will be tested and the second reactor will be activated before the end of the year.

Long time coming!

Akademic Lomonosov is now officially Russia's 11th nuclear power plant.


World’s only floating nuclear power plant enters full commercial exploitation

2020 May 22


“Today we can consider the floating nuclear power plant construction project successfully completed. We finished our main task for this year - fully commissioned the FNPP in Pevek, Chukotka region. Today, it officially becomes the 11th nuclear power plant in Russia and the northernmost one in the world,” Andrei Petrov noted.

The FNPP has already generated over 47.3 million kWh of electricity since being connected to the grid. Currently, it covers 20% of the Chaun-Bilibino energy center demand. The FNPP will become the main energy source for Chukotka following the Bilibino NPP shutdown.

A nuclear reactor at sea is nothing new or strange. Nuclear submatines and even lots of different ships are powered by nuclear reactors. en.wikipedia.org...

This one is basically an oversized nuclear ship/barge. In fact, its reactors are two modified KLT-40 naval propulsion reactors, currently in use on several Russian ships.