World's only floating nuclear power plant (FNPP)- Akademik Lomonosov is expected to start injecting electricity to Russia’s power grid next year, ushering a new era in global nuclear power industry. Built by Russia’s Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation Reactor of Unit -1 has successfully gone through the first stage of its power start-up , last week ( December10) in Murmansk of Russia.
Power start-up is a series of functional and safety tests to be conducted on Akademik Lomonosov’s reactors, before connection to the grid. At the first stage the reactor was tested at 1-10% of its capacity and at the final stage it will be tested at 110%. During each stage, various operation modes are tested in order to ensure the safety of the power plant.
“The floating nuclear power plant is an ideal solution for power supply to remote areas. We consider this project as a new product, which is of interest not only for the grid-isolated Russian Arctic regions, but also for a number of countries around the world.” said Alexey Likhachev, CEO of Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation.
“Today we are demonstrating to our potential partners referential technologies in the field of small nuclear power reactors. I am sure that the growing demand for this product will bolster Russia’s leading position in the world’s nuclear technology market.” Likhachev added.
All the tests are likely to be completed by March 2019 and in the second half of the year, the FPU will be towed to its final destination - port of Pevek of Chukotka, extreme north-eastern region of Russia to replace the Bilibino Nuclear Power Plant.
A FNPP is basically a mobile, low-capacity reactor unit, designed for operation in remote areas, isolated from the main power distribution system, or in places hard to access by surface. They are capable to maintain both uninterruptible power and desalinated water supply in remote areas. The Akademik Lamonosov has a total capacity of 70MW and is equipped with two reactors, each of 35 MW. Its operational life span is 40 years, with the provision of extending up to 50 years.
Russia has already started working on second generation floating nuclear power plant, which will also have e two reactors, but each with an increased capacity of 50 MW. In addition to having a greater power capacity, the plant will be smaller than its predecessors.
Rosatom’s strategy envisages supplying latest generation floating nuclear power plants to the most promising markets for small modular reactors (SMRs) across the globe. So far Middle East, North Africa and Southeast Asia countries showed significant interest in the FNPP technology.
The first ever-nuclear power plant of Bangladesh is being constructed by Rosatom at Rooppur village of Pabna district. The plant will have two units, each of 1,200 MW capacity. Latest and the safest Russian VVER-1200 reactors to be set up at Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant.
