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The Akademik Lomonosov floating nuclear thermal power plant (FNPP) is the flagship project of the 20870 series of low-power mobile transportable power units designed to supply power to large industrial enterprises, port cities, as well as complexes for the production and processing of oil and gas on the shelf of the seas. The power unit is created on the basis of the power plant of nuclear icebreakers, tested during their long-term operation in the Arctic.
The FNPP power plant has a maximum electric power of 80 megawatts and includes two KLT-40S reactor units. The chief designer, manufacturer and complete supplier of equipment for these reactor plants with a thermal power of 150 MW each is OJSC Afrikantov OKBM (part of the Rosatom machine-building holding OJSC Atomenergomash).
The construction of the world's first FNPP "Akademik Lomonosov" is currently being carried out by LLC "Baltic Plant - Shipbuilding", the city of St. Petersburg.
Main characteristics: Displacement 21500 tons. The length will be 144 meters, width 30 meters, depth 10 meters, draft 5.6 meters. Crew 69 people.
The floating nuclear power plant is not equipped with its own engines, so a tug is required for its transportation.
The station is equipped with two modified KLT-40 engines, which are capable of generating up to 70 MW of electricity and 300 MW of thermal energy, which is enough to support the life of a city with a population of 200,000 people.
FNPP can be used as a desalination plant, producing up to 240,000 cubic meters of water daily.
The assigned service life of the FPU is 35 - 40 years.
The reactors are recharged at intervals of 2.5 - 3.0 years.
FNPP is designed with a large margin of safety, which exceeds all possible threats and makes nuclear reactors invulnerable to tsunamis and other natural disasters. In addition, nuclear processes on ships meet all the requirements of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and do not pose a threat to the environment.
On August 8, 2006, Rosatom signed a contract with Sevmash for the construction of the Akademik Lomonosov FNPP, which on May 19, 2006 became the winner in a closed tender for the construction of a low-capacity FNPP, held in accordance with the Federal Target Program "Energy Efficient Economy" for 2002-2005 and for the future until 2010.
On April 15, 2007, the laying of the block took place in Severodvinsk. It was planned that the first FNPP would be built in 2010 for the needs of Severodvinsk.
At the beginning of 2008, a conflict arose between Rosatom and Sevmash related to the failure to meet construction deadlines and increase its cost. As a result, Rosatom raised a question with the Government of the Russian Federation on transferring the construction of a floating power unit to the Baltic Plant in St. Petersburg, which was done in 2008.
The customer of the pilot FNPP is the state-owned Concern Rosenergoatom, which in February 2009 signed a contract with the Baltic Shipyard.
On June 30, 2010, the head floating power unit "Akademik Lomonosov" was launched from the stocks of the plant, which will become the main element of the future FNPP.
On August 03, 2011, the tightening of the power cable on the floating power unit of project 20870 began, and the complex and laborious process of loading steam turbine units on the FPU was completed.
In 2011, the enterprise went bankrupt and at the end of 2011 came under the control of the state represented by the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC). In the structure of the USC, Baltiysky Zavod - Shipbuilding LLC was created, to which all shipbuilding and machine-building competencies of the Baltiysky Zavod were transferred, and the entire three thousandth labor collective also moved into it.
According to a message dated June 01, 2012, Baltiysky Zavod - Shipbuilding LLC received license No. GN-02-102-2624 for the construction of a nuclear installation of a floating power unit of project 20870 with nuclear reactors KLT-40S "Akademik Lomonosov", which was issued on May 30, 2012 from valid until May 30, 2017.
On December 07, 2012, Baltiysky Zavod and Rosenergoatom entered into an agreement on the completion of the floating power unit (FPU) of the first floating nuclear thermal power plant, Akademik Lomonosov. The agreement was signed by Director General of the Rosenergoatom Concern Sergey Zavyalov and General Director of the Baltic Plant Alexander Voznesensky. Under the terms of the contract, Baltiysky Zavod - Shipbuilding LLC undertakes to hand over the FPU, ready for towing to the place of operation, on September 09, 2016. At the moment, the readiness of the facility is 60%.
On January 25 and 26, 2013, metal-water protection tanks (MVZ) for nuclear reactors were loaded at the facility.
September 27 (first) and October 01 (second), 2013 220-ton steam generating units manufactured according to the design of OKBM named after V.I. Afrikantov, were from the Baltic Plant to the outfitting embankment, where, in the presence of representatives of the customer, the Rosenergoatom concern, and the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping, they were loaded into the FPU reactor compartments by a Demag floating crane.
According to a report dated April 24, 2014, she won the tender for insurance of the project 20870 head floating power unit (PEB) under construction with KLT 40C reactor units for a floating nuclear thermal power plant. The total sum insured is more than 22.6 billion rubles. The insurance contract will be concluded with Rosenergoatom Concern OJSC.
According to a message dated March 11, 2015, the readiness of the FNPP is 85%, the work is being carried out according to the schedule. According to a message dated August 24, the world's first floating power unit of a nuclear thermal power plant (FNPP) "Akademik Lomonosov" will begin on September 1 at the St. Petersburg branch of the Central Institute for Advanced Studies (TsIPK) of Rosatom.
July 01, 2016 mooring trials to be completed on October 30, 2017. December 16, 2016 at 10:00 am on the upper deck of the floating power unit under construction, order 05711, caused by smoldering rags (1 sq.m.). The smoldering was eliminated on its own before the arrival of firefighters (duty guards PCh-67 and PCh-9).
According to a message dated February 10, 2017, the SOGAZ Insurance Group for the period of mooring tests of the FPU with KLT-40S reactor units. The corresponding insurance contract was concluded with Rosenergoatom Concern JSC based on the results of an open tender. April 17, 2017 started, which take place at the "Baltic Shipyard - Shipbuilding". According to a message dated December 15, one of the two turbines of the power unit (PUB) was barring in the engine room.
The lead nuclear power unit "Akademik Lomonosov" is being built for a floating nuclear thermal power plant in the city of Pevek, Chukotka Autonomous Region. The planned date for completion of construction and readiness of the FPU for towing to the base is the end of 2017. According to a message dated February 26, 2018, it ended with inclining, which was carried out during mooring trials. According to a message dated April 18, engineering devices were carried out. April 28 to Murmansk from the berth of JSC "Baltic Plant", where he was on May 19. According to a message dated July 26, the specialists of JSC "Baltic Plant" of nuclear fuel into the reactor units of the floating nuclear power unit. According to a message dated September 28, the loading of nuclear fuel into the reactor plant on the left side of the floating nuclear power unit. In September 2019, Rosenergoatom plans to start installing the power unit in its original location, and in the fall of 2019, it plans to start testing the FNPP and put it into operation.
The first floating nuclear power plant in the world went to sea April 28th, 2018
When I started discussing with you five years ago, I did not really believe that such an ambitious and unusual project could be brought to a product in metal. Back in the 1950s, they appeared on wheels, on tracks and afloat. Since that time, nothing has passed into real samples.
And so, on April 28, the Akademik Lomonosov nuclear floating power unit (FPU) left the territory of the Baltic Plant in St. Petersburg, where it had been under construction since 2009, and headed to its base - to Chukotka.
The towing of the FPU to Pevek (Chukotka) is planned to be carried out in two stages: from St. Petersburg - to Murmansk, without nuclear fuel on board, and then from Murmansk - to Pevek - approximately in the summer of 2019 with already loaded nuclear fuel.
The entire range of towing and shunting services related to the passage of a floating power unit (FPU) along the route St. Petersburg - Murmansk - Pevek will be provided by the Marine Rescue Service of Rosmorrechflot.
In Pevek itself, where the floating nuclear thermal power plant (FNPP) will be located, construction work continues, including the construction of a mole-pier, hydraulic structures (HTS) and a coastal platform, designed to ensure the safe parking of the power unit and the acceptance of the power bridge from it.
This autumn, nuclear fuel will be loaded into the reactor and its physical start-up will take place in Murmansk, and the FPU ready for operation will be delivered along the Northern Sea Route to Pevek and connected to the coastal infrastructure. “After commissioning, which is scheduled for 2019, the FNPP will replace the Bilibino nuclear power plant and Chaunskaya CHPP, which are already technologically outdated, and will become the northernmost nuclear power plant in the world,” the report says.
"Installation of floating nuclear power plants in hard-to-reach areas of Russia is a very promising direction in the development of Russian engineering," says Ivan Andrievsky, First Vice President of the Russian Union of Engineers. He recalls that the President of the country has repeatedly spoken about the importance of developing the Far North. In addition, Andrievsky told the Center for Energy Expertise, “the project meets all the requirements of the IAEA, this removes all kinds of claims against it at the international level. difficulties that these countries have not yet fully resolved, the emergence of FNPP will certainly arouse scientific and business interest among a number of Russia's partners […]".
In turn, Advisor to the President of FINAM Group of Companies Yaroslav Kabakov recalled that many states showed interest in the project even at the construction stage, and "China is especially active in this direction." According to the expert, "with the commissioning of the first FNPP, if it is successful, it can be expected that the project will want to be implemented by countries that could not even dream of developing nuclear energy in their countries before."
The floating power unit (FPU) "Akademik Lomonosov" of project 20 870 is the head project of a series of mobile transportable power units of low power. It is designed to operate as part of a floating nuclear thermal power plant (FNPP) and represents a new class of mobile power sources based on Russian nuclear shipbuilding technologies. The station is equipped with two KLT-40S reactors capable of generating up to 70 MW of electricity and 50 Gcal/h of thermal energy in the nominal operating mode, which is enough to support the life of a city with a population of about 100,000 people. PEB is a unique and the world's first project of a mobile transportable low-capacity power unit. It is designed for operation in the regions of the Far North and the Far East.
The Akademik Lomonosov floating nuclear thermal power plant is the flagship project for a series of low-capacity mobile transportable power units. The FNPP power plant has a maximum electric power of more than 70 MW and includes two KLT-40S reactor units. JSC Afrikantov OKBM is the chief designer, manufacturer and package supplier of equipment for these reactor plants with a thermal power of 150 MW each - reactors, CPS IMs, pumps, fuel handling equipment, auxiliary equipment, etc.
The floating power unit proposed for power supply of large industrial enterprises, port cities, oil and gas production and processing complexes on the shelf of the seas was created on the basis of a serial power plant of nuclear icebreakers, tested during their long-term operation in the Arctic.
The studies and design studies carried out by the institutes and enterprises of the State Corporation Rosatom showed the possibility of creating a new class of energy sources based on ship reactors mastered in Russia for the commercial production of electricity, desalinated water, industrial and domestic heat - floating nuclear power units with a capacity of 3.5 to 70 megawatts ( e.) and more.
A floating power unit (FPU) is an autonomous power facility that is entirely created at a shipyard as a non-self-propelled vessel and then towed by sea or river to its place of operation. The customer is supplied with a fully constructed, tested and ready-to-work power facility with living quarters and a complete infrastructure that provides accommodation for operating personnel and maintenance of the facility itself, that is, a turnkey technology is being implemented.
The construction of a FPU in factory conditions makes it possible to minimize the time and cost of plant construction, while at the same time ensuring the highest quality requirements. Expensive construction work at the FNPP location is excluded. If necessary, the FPU can be relocated from one site to another.
Floating power units are best suited for operation in hard-to-reach areas along the coasts of seas or large rivers, remote from centralized power supply systems. In Russia, these are, first of all, the regions of the Far North and the Far East, which are not covered by a unified energy system and need reliable and economically acceptable energy sources. Here, there is already an urgent need for several dozen low-capacity thermal power plants to stimulate the development of economic activity and provide modern living conditions for the local population. Typical villages of the North have from hundreds to several thousand people. The needs of such a village in electricity range from several units to several tens of MW, respectively. The industrial needs of most mines and mining and processing plants are similar.
For export to the coastal regions of countries and regions with arid climate, a version of the nuclear power desalination complex (PAEOC) has been developed, which produces not only electricity, but also high-quality drinking water from sea water. Such a complex includes a FPU and a floating water desalination complex, which can use either reverse osmosis (RO) technology or multi-stage evaporation plants (MED). Many countries in Africa, Asia and Europe, which are experiencing an acute shortage of fresh water, are showing interest in such complexes.
The enrichment of the fuel used in the installations of the floating power unit does not exceed the limit set by the IAEA to comply with the nuclear nonproliferation regime. This allows the use of nuclear floating power sources within the framework of international legislation, including in developing countries.
The operation of the station in the coastal regions of the oceans raises the question of their resistance to extreme natural impacts, such as tsunamis, tornadoes, etc. JSC Afrikantov OKBM has a set of technologies for manufacturing a nuclear power plant in such a way that it can withstand any level of dynamic loads specified in the project. This has been confirmed by practice: the reactor plants of the Kursk nuclear submarine cruiser, created by OKBM specialists, not only withstood a powerful explosion, but also autonomously ensured the decommissioning of the reactor and keeping it in a safe condition. Even the long stay of the destroyed ship under water did not lead to the release of radioactivity into the environment.
A floating nuclear power plant, like any other, according to modern safety standards, is initially designed with a “margin of safety” that exceeds the maximum possible loads in a given area, such as a tsunami wave hitting the plant, a collision with another ship or with a coastal structure as a result of such an impact .
Speaking about the safety of floating nuclear power plants, it is important to note that hundreds of ships and warships with nuclear power plants are operated as part of the fleets of Russia, the United States, China, Great Britain, and France. Nuclear-powered icebreakers, missile cruisers, aircraft carriers, and nuclear-powered submarines are based in ports that are often located near large cities (for example, in Murmansk).
Repair of the station and reloading of fuel will be carried out in the conditions of the specialized enterprises for the technological maintenance of nuclear ships that exist in our country, which have the necessary equipment and qualified personnel.
After 40 years of operation, the power unit will be replaced by a new one, while the old one is returned to a specialized technological enterprise for disposal. Both during and after the operation of the floating nuclear power plant, no environmentally hazardous substances and materials remain at the site of its operation (the "green lawn" principle).
"Akademik Lomonosov" will have a displacement of 21.5 thousand tons. The length of the vessel will be 144 m, width - 30 m. The crew will consist of 69 people. According to the project, the FNPP will be deprived of its own engines: it will be transported by a tugboat. The station will have two reactors. The power of each reactor is 35 MW, the thermal power is 140 gigacalories per hour. The station can also be used for water desalination. It is capable of producing up to 240 thousand cubic meters. m of fresh water per day.
According to official data from the project developers, such characteristics will allow one floating power plant to supply electricity and heat to a city with a population of up to 200,000 people.
The declared service life of one FNPP is 40 years. After this time, the ship with a nuclear power plant is planned to be towed to the appropriate enterprise to replace the power unit that has worked out its resource. It is planned to install a new unit in its place, after which the floating power plant can be returned to the old duty station or transferred to a new one.
The floating NPP "Akademik Lomonosov" is a project of mobile transport power units of small capacity. This is just the first power unit to be part of a complete floating nuclear power plant. Already in 2019, it should arrive in the northern port of Pevek. The main purpose of this block is to replace the Bilibino Nuclear Power Plant and the Chaunskaya CHPP.
purpose
The floating nuclear power plant in Pevek should provide the inhabitants of Chukotka with heat and electricity. The operating Bilibino Nuclear Power Plant and the Chaunskaya CHPP are due to be decommissioned as their service life is coming to an end due to obsolete equipment. Of course, it would be possible to build a new nuclear power plant in Chukotka, but due to severe frosts, this is expensive and difficult to do. Instead, a floating nuclear power plant is being built by order of the Russian company Rosatom. This idea lay on the surface, because it is easier to build a power unit under normal conditions than in permafrost. Already finished blocks can be transported by water to distant cities, moored there and provide local residents with electricity. Also, oil and gas platforms and enterprises can be powered from these power units.
In addition, a floating nuclear power plant is capable of providing residents and enterprises with thermal energy, as well as desalination of sea water. It is possible to process from 40 to 240 cubic meters of sea water per day, after which it becomes fresh and suitable for consumption. All this makes it possible to raise the industrial potential of the regions and even attract investments by reducing the cost of electricity.
ship like a city
The floating nuclear power plant "Akademik Lomonosov" is a huge ship with the size of a 12-storey building and a length of 144 meters. It can be compared to a small town. On the ship, instead of tangled streets, there are labyrinths of corridors, instead of the city hall, there is a central post here - it is from it that technological processes are controlled. Instead of houses on the ship, there are comfortable single cabins for staff. Offices are also provided for the management staff.
Also on this floating nuclear power plant are social facilities: a library, a sports and fitness room, a sauna, as well as a special press room for communicating with the press.
In total, there are 96 crew members on the ship, who work on a rotational basis for three months. This scheme of operation is standard and is used on many large ships that are at sea for many months.
Cost and participants of the project
The cost of the first unit of the floating nuclear power plant was 16.5 billion rubles. This includes everything: construction, equipment, a reactor plant, the creation of special coastal facilities for mooring a ship. If we discard all unnecessary from this amount, then the price of a "clean" floating power plant will be 14.1 billion rubles. Consequently, 2.4 billion rubles were spent on the construction of hydraulic and coastal structures, which are also necessary to ensure the operation of the ship.
The following companies are participating in the project:
- Rosatom is the customer.
- Atomenergo is a designer of a floating nuclear power plant.
- OAO "Baltiysky Zavod" - manufacturer.
- The production of turbines was undertaken by the Kaluga Turbine Plant.
- The OKBM named after I.I. Afrikantov was responsible for the supply of reactor installations.
Future plans
It should be noted that the project of a floating nuclear power plant in St. Petersburg, if successful, becomes very promising. Many countries are waiting for the start of operation of this station in order to determine its effectiveness and the feasibility of using it at home. Back in 2002, the Rosatom company signed declarations on the construction of floating nuclear power plants for use in Vilyuchinsk (Kamchatka), Dudinka (Taimyr), and Pevek. Also, these "floating boats" should appear in Yakutia and the Krasnoyarsk Territory.
Safety
Given the "cargo" on board such a floating station, the issue of safety is one of the most pressing. Perhaps it is worth starting with the fact that the fuel enrichment used in the floating power unit does not exceed the level established by the IAEA. Consequently, all stations are created within the narrow confines of international law.
The second topical issue is the stability of the floating installation to natural influences. Tornadoes, tsunamis, strong winds - a floating nuclear power plant must withstand all this. OKBM named after Afrikantov has technologies for manufacturing nuclear installations that will withstand any natural dynamic loads. These technologies were used to create a floating nuclear power plant. Indirect confirmation of this are the nuclear reactor plants of the Kursk cruiser. They withstood a powerful explosion, and after that they ensured the withdrawal of the reactor and maintained it in a safe condition, due to which radioactive substances did not escape into the environment.
Like any other station, a floating power unit is also designed with a margin of safety that exceeds the possible loads in the area where the unit is planned to operate. Also taken into account are the loads that may presumably result from a collision with another vessel or a coastal facility.
In general, hundreds of ships with nuclear power plants are used in the fleets of Russia, the USA, China, France, and England. Icebreakers, aircraft carriers, cruisers, submarines - many of these ships are equipped with nuclear power plants, and they are based in ports that are located near major cities.
Service
As for the repair and reloading of fuel, all these operations are carried out in Russia with the involvement of specialized enterprises involved in the technological maintenance of nuclear ships. They include qualified specialists, and the companies themselves have the necessary equipment for servicing ships.
After the power unit has served 40 years, it will be replaced with a new one. The old block is returned to a specialized enterprise, where it is disposed of. As a result, there will be no hazardous materials and substances left that could harm the environment and humans.
Who is against a floating nuclear power plant?
Like many other ambitious projects, the idea of creating a "floating Chernobyl" was poorly received by environmentalists. Not only do they not welcome such an idea, they believe that it is dangerous to stay afloat with such a powerful reactor plant. The specialists involved in this project claim that there is no danger, since nuclear ships have been afloat for many years, and no catastrophes have occurred. But the activists insist on their own, citing as an argument the fact that the parameters of the reactors of the floating installation have been changed compared to the parameters of the reactors used on icebreakers, cruisers, etc. In particular, the reactors of floating nuclear power plants have a larger core, and they will operate in harsher conditions, and the declared 40-year service life exceeds the allowable life of such reactors. Therefore, many environmentalists admit that a large nuclear experiment is being prepared in Pomorye, which could end detrimentally not only for these regions, but for the whole of Russia.
Greenpeace also joined the protest by publishing on its website a huge list of accidents on ships with reactor plants. The list was impressive, and it was compiled on the basis of available public sources. This list includes more than 100 accidents that occurred on ships, including accidents with the release of radioactive substances into the environment.
Waste
Ecologists are confident that Russia is hiding behind the problems of energy supply to remote regions for the construction of floating nuclear reactors, which in the future will be leased abroad. At the same time, there is a high probability that Russia will also take over the maintenance, including the disposal of spent nuclear fuel. A nuclear fuel barge that sailed away from Severodvinsk will return 40 years later as a large nuclear waste dump. If the production of such nuclear power plants is put on stream, then very soon there will be a problem with the disposal of spent fuel, and it will be more difficult to bury it than conventional fuel from land-based nuclear power plants.
high cost
Sergey Krysov, deputy general director of Rosatom, said earlier that the cost of one kWh produced at a floating nuclear power plant is 1.5 rubles. This is much cheaper than the cost of kWh obtained by burning gas or coal in the Far North, because the price for electricity is formed primarily by the transport component.
The CEO of Malaya Energetika admits that compared to land-based nuclear power plants, the cost of producing one kWh on a floating station is much more expensive, but in any case it is cheaper than using fossil fuels in the Far North. It is worth noting that the cost of building a floating nuclear power plant did not take into account the costs of disposing of spent fuel, which will need to be buried in 40 years. Given these costs, it is possible that the price for producing one kWh of electricity could be much higher than the cost of one kWh using gas or coal.
However, now no one is going to pay and take into account the costs of disposal. It is quite possible that within 40 years cheap recycling technologies will be invented. Methods for reusing spent nuclear fuel can also be devised.
Finally
There are only two floating nuclear power plants in the world. The first was planned to be built in 1961 by the Americans, but already in 1976 it was decommissioned due to economic inefficiency and unsafe use. "Akademik Lomonosov" is currently the only working floating nuclear power plant, which is a very good solution for power supply to remote northern regions of Russia. Over time, the use of these "mobile batteries" will allow the development of industry and increase the capacity of existing enterprises in remote regions, where previously this could not be done due to the high cost or lack of electricity.
Another dangerous project of Rosatom.
The idea is related to the deployment of floating nuclear power plants based on icebreaking reactors of the KLT-40S type in the Russian North and the Far East. Among the proposed sites: Vilyuchinsk (Kamchatka), Pevek (Chukotka), Severodvinsk (Arkhangelsk region).
Malaysia, Indonesia, South Korea, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, India, Vietnam have shown interest in the project, and Rosatom plans to lease floating NPPs to these countries. Rosatom considers Brazil, Uruguay, Chile as a promising market.
The very idea of using atomic energy in transport facilities is not new. Similar projects were developed in Germany and in the USA. But these countries have by now abandoned the projects of floating nuclear power plants, considering them unpromising. Experts say that in the event of an accident with the release of radioactivity outside the ship, vast territories will be exposed to radioactive contamination. And experience in operating ship reactors and ships with reactor plants.
Moreover, natural hazards (earthquakes, tsunamis), maritime piracy and terrorism are added to the usual list of accident risk factors. In the event of the capture of the FNPP (HEU), they also get a chance for nuclear blackmail.
Possible contracts for the supply of floating NPPs abroad should take into account the requirements for the physical protection of nuclear facilities and control over the nonproliferation of nuclear materials. It is well known how difficult (if not impossible) it is to defend a large vessel from outside attack. The physical protection of the station will require the maintenance of a significant paramilitary guard, that is, the participation of the Russian naval forces. But even with this, it is practically impossible to ensure absolute protection of the station from the side of its underwater part from a torpedo attack or from underwater saboteurs, and on the surface - from a missile and bomb attack.
From an economic point of view, floating reactors are initially an extremely expensive way to generate electricity.
