Russia Plans To Make Floating Nuclear Power Plants Operational By 2016

One of the biggest shipbuilders of Russia has undertaken the responsibility of building the world’s first floating nuclear power plant and making it operational by the year 2016. The main purpose of building this floating power plant is to provide energy to large industrial enterprises, port cities and offshore gas and oil-extracting platforms. These power plants when modified will also be able to serve as a desalination plant capable of producing 240,000 cubic meters of fresh water daily. The floating power plant will be a vessel having displacement of 21,500 tons and will be taken care of by a crew of about 70 people. The ship will be equipped with two modified KLT-40 naval propulsion reactors that shall provide 70 MW of electricity or 300 MW of heat. The ship shall not have an engine and will require a tow from another ship to help it travel to its destination.

Mockup of the Nuclear Floating Power Plant

In the past we have seen mishaps in the nuclear power plants like Fukushima, so the designers have made sure that the reactors are able to survive natural forces like tsunami and crashes with other ships. Once started these reactors can work for about 40 years after which they can be returned to a specialized facility for re-utilization. Efforts for building portable nuclear power plants had started long back in with a prototype ship named as “Akademik Lomonosov” in the year 2007 but the project was stalled for the last two years due to lack of funds. This project has now being resurrected with the help of a joint deal between the Baltic plant and the state run Rosenergoatom company.

We at VoiCE surely appreciate this effort and so have 15 countries who have expressed their interest to procure this technology. So what do you think about this idea and will it be successful in winning the heart of skeptics who are worried about the darker side of nuclear power. Let us know in the comments section below.

Source: #-Link-Snipped-#

Replies

  • Kaustubh Katdare
    Kaustubh Katdare
    I'm thinking, abandoning these power plants would be easier 😳
  • lovebox
    lovebox
    A great effort and an equally great scientific feat.

    But, as interesting as it may sound, the challenges are aplenty.
    Even the Titanic was thought of as unsinkable but those thoughts as well as the ship went down by the nose during it's maiden voyage.
    The fact that this vessel is meant to be at the sea for longer duration as compared to ordinary transport ships increases the chances of encountering hardships at sea.

    Plus, the constant threat from rogue nations near whose coastlines this plant is operating at that moment, and also terrorists who might either try to overtake the plant by force or even blow it up causing catastrophic damage to the region nearby as well as to the marine ecosystem.

    I just hope enough naval security is given to the plant either by Russia, or the country that engages it. A crew of merely 70 people may not be able to protect it when under attack.
  • Ramani Aswath
    Ramani Aswath
    Some doubts on what happens in a Tsunami have been raised.
    It is green energy. I am ambivalent about nuclear energy.
    Lot of comments here:
    #-Link-Snipped-#

You are reading an archived discussion.

Related Posts

Intel has been known for their x86 based powerful processors, but x86 based processors were never power efficient, and thus the intel's mobile processors couldn't make to the smart-phone domain....
Microsoft's announced that the Office and Sharepoint store is officially launching in india and 21 other new markets. The company will offer localised office and sharepoint storefronts in several languages...
Blackberry is trying hard to penetrate the markets it once ruled. The canadian company recently announced its flagship Q10 phone powered by BB 10 in India for a price of...
The future Intel's Silvermont Atom-Processor has already outperformed snapdragon 800, we have discussed about it HERE. Recently, alongwith the leak of benchmark of Silvermont processor, the detail of model numbers...
Leicester University researchers have developed a new brainwave reader that can help preventing accidents by stopping the drivers falling asleep at the wheel. Project leader Dr. Matias Ison says that...