FLEXBLUE: The Off Shore Nuclear Reactor

Come summer and we have to face an unending and unbearable load shedding.  The main reason behind the deduction is the ever increasing demand and the production which even after so many technologies is still unable to catch up its level.



A step in this direction is taken up by French defense company DCNS (Direction des Constructions Navales). After delivering spectacular submarines to the French Navy it is now planning to execute project Flexblue – an offshore nuclear power plant, small units based on designs for its nuclear submarines.  The ultimate aim is to fulfill the never ending power related needs of the city. Nuclear power plants have great efficiency but they are the most risky power plants of the lot. A single mistake can lead to accidents which will be remembered throughout the history just like Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

So, the defense company planned to take the project off-shore. Flexblue would be a cylindrical unit. The cylindrical Flexblue would be 100 m long and 12–15 m in diameter, and would have a generating capacity of 50–250 MW. It will produced by using an inbuilt nuclear power reactor and steam generators. It would weigh 12,000 tonnes once built and is designed to be anchored several kilometres off-shore in water. Such devices would be installed on the seabed under 60 to 100 meters of water where the energy generated would be transported through underwater cables.

The Flexblue system would include a small nuclear boiler, a turbine generator, a power plant and auxiliary systems, with a cable to take the electricity produced to the shore. It would also include a counterbalance system for ease of movement during installation and decommissioning. The boiler design is derived from those used in nuclear submarines, customized specifically for power generation. Although the plant would be operated remotely from the shore a small crew would be required for vital maintenance and momentous periods like the start-up,

The DCNS has been working for more than two years on this self maneuvered device. DCNS has further collaborated with Electricité de France(EDF), French Atomic and Alternative Energies Commission (CEA) and AREVA for optimizing Flexblue’s modularity and standardization. The collaboration has already initiated the next two-year phase of development.

Their research journey further includes; technical and production options, market potential, competitiveness analysis, proliferation studies and project security. DCNS says that they are trying to provide Flexblue units to have security equivalent to that of third generation nuclear plants on land. The nuclear material itself has three layers of protection – the fuel cladding, the primary circuit and the hull itself, so to provide maximum safety. The study which is expected to last two years is looked upon as a promising way to generate power. We too look forward to have such projects aboard.