A floating nuclear thermal power plant (FNPP) is a project for the production of a series of transportable low-capacity nuclear power plants. The units are being developed by the state corporation Rosatom in cooperation with OAO Small Power Engineering, OAO Baltiysky Zavod and a number of other enterprises. floating nuclear power plant entitled " Academician Lomonosov» is the first installation of its kind worldwide. The power unit of the station will be prepared for transportation and start of operation by September 2016. After that, the first tests of the operation of the installation will take place.
Characteristics and purpose of FNPP
The power plant of the station has a thermal capacity of 140 gigacalories per hour, a maximum electrical power of 80 megawatts and consists of two KLT-40S reactors. The creator and manufacturer of reactor plants with a total capacity of 300 MW is the I.I. Afrikantova. The basis of the station is a non-navigable vessel with a smooth deck, on which reactors and other structural elements are located. The vessel is 144 meters long, 30 meters wide, and has a displacement of 21.5 thousand tons.
floating nuclear power plant was developed on the basis of a serial power plant of nuclear icebreakers, the effectiveness of which was tested in the Arctic based on the results of long-term operation. The station is designed to provide electricity and heat to various facilities, including:
- Manufacturing enterprises.
- Gas and oil producing complexes.
- Port cities.
floating nuclear power plant optimized for operation in hard-to-reach places on the coasts of seas or rivers located at a great distance from unified power supply systems. On the territory of Russia, such places include the Far North and the Far East, which need affordable and efficient energy sources. The capacity of the Akademik Lomonosov station will be sufficient to reduce the strong need for the placement of thermal power plants, which are necessary for the continuous development of the economy and the achievement of quality living conditions. 
For the coastal areas of territories where drought is periodically observed, a version of a floating nuclear complex has been created, which is operated to desalinate sea water. For 24 hours of continuous operation, the installation is capable of producing from 40 to 240 cubic meters of clean water. The water desalination complex is capable of operating using reverse osmosis technology or using multi-stage evaporation facilities. This complex will be especially useful in African countries, as well as in some Asian and European countries, where there is a clear shortage of drinking water.
Features of the floating station
The construction of the floating power unit is carried out in the factory, thanks to which it is possible to minimize the time and cost of work, while meeting all quality requirements. The cost of the first power unit amounted to 16.5 billion rubles, taking into account the costs of construction, purchase of equipment and coastal facilities. The price of the energy block itself amounted to 14.1 billion rubles.
Any costly construction work at the station location is excluded. If necessary, the entire floating power unit can be transported from one location to another.
The enrichment of the fuel used in the equipment of the floating station does not exceed the maximum level, which was established in order to comply with the non-proliferation regime of nuclear weapons. Thus, the use of floating energy sources will be subject to international law in all countries, including developing ones. According to current safety standards, a floating nuclear power plant is designed with a certain margin of safety, which exceeds the maximum possible loads. The hull of a smooth-deck vessel and equipment are capable of withstanding strong wave impacts, collisions with structures on the coast or with other vessels. 
The duration of operation of the floating station will be at least 36 years. Reactor cores will be refueled between three twelve-year cycles. Repair of the power unit and reloading of fuel will be carried out with the help of existing enterprises specializing in the technological maintenance of nuclear ships. After the end of the life of the power unit, it will be replaced with a new one, and the old one will be sent for recycling. During operation and upon completion of work, the floating power station "Akademik Lomonosov" will not leave substances hazardous to humans and the environment.
An order was signed to start mooring trials the world's first floating power unit (PUB) "Akademik Lomonosov". According to the FPU construction schedule, testing will begin on July 1, 2016.
Carrying out mooring tests on order is the most important stage of construction, which determines the beginning of its final stage. Mooring tests will be carried out according to a special technological scheme and will be combined with outfitting work in the premises of the transshipment complex, equipment and engine rooms, which will require high organization and increased security measures from the plant.
The tests will be carried out sequentially in order to prevent the combination of construction and testing in the same areas and premises of the FPU under construction.The planned completion date for mooring trials is October 30, 2017.
After that, the Akademik Lomonosov FNPP will leave the plant as a ready-made facility, which will be delivered along the Northern Sea Route to the place of work and connected to the coastal infrastructure being built in the port of Pevek . The readiness of the power unit for transportation should be achieved by the end of 2017. In September 2019, Rosenergoatom plans to start installing the power unit in its original place, and at the end of autumn 2019, to start testing the FNPP and put it into operation.
Project 20870 nuclear power unit "Akademik Lomonosov" is a non-self-propelled ship with two KLT-40 nuclear reactors on board, designed to provide electricity and heat to hard-to-reach facilities in the northern seas, as well as to desalinate sea water. According to the technical specifications, the FPU is capable of delivering up to 70 MW of electricity and 300 MW of thermal energy to the coastal networks in nominal mode, which is enough to support the life of a city with a population of 200,000 people.
The operating life of the power unit is forty years. At the same time, it is necessary to recharge the reactors every three years. The FPU will be operated by a permanent crew of 69 people.
Construction of hydraulic and coastal structures for the world's first floating nuclear power plant >>
"Akademik Lomonosov" project 20870 is designed to operate as part of a floating nuclear thermal power plant (FNPP). The station is equipped with KLT-40S reactor units, which are capable of generating up to 70 MW of electricity and 50 Gcal/h of thermal energy in the nominal operating mode.
Floating power unit will replace the generating capacities that are retired by 2019 in Chukotka - the Bilibino NPP and the Chaunskaya CHPP, which is important from the point of view of a guaranteed and sustainable energy supply for the region.
The Russian Federation is an absolute world monopolist in the field of floating nuclear power plants, which are promising to be used in coastal infrastructure construction.
Currently, the Akademik Lomonosov FNPP (project 20870) is being completed at the Baltiysky Zavod. According to the plan, it should be delivered in September 2016., but given the "experimental nature" of the first FNPP, the final deadlines for its commissioning and the budget remain "floating". Despite the agreement with Baltzavod to commission the FNPP in the fall of 2016, Rosatom admits that there is potentially time until 2019 for completion and testing.It is expected that the floating power unit will be towed from the Baltiysky Zavod to Murmansk in the spring of 2018 to the Rosatomflot site, where nuclear fuel will be loaded into the reactor and the physical start-up of the power unit will take place in the fall.
The very idea of using atomic energy in transport facilities is not new. Similar projects were developed in England, Germany and the USA. But these countries have by now abandoned the projects of floating nuclear power plants, considering them unpromising.
Atomflot plans to build a dock for the new LK-60 icebreaker >>
Floating reactors were first used in the United States to power the Panama Canal (1966–1976) and the American research base in Antarctica (1962–1972). For example, the American floating station Sturgis (capacity 10 MW) has been out of service since 1976 at a parking lot in Virginia, and was recently towed to Galveston for disposal.
Recently, the Chinese corporation CGN (China General Nuclear Power Corporation) announced the official launch of the project of a floating station with a low power reactor ACPR50S.
CGN has entered into an agreement with Dongfang Electric Corporation to purchase a pressurized reactor vessel, Huang Xiaofei Corporation's representative in Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province, South China, said.
The ACPR50S project is considered the most optimal solution for combined heat, power and fresh water supply for offshore resource development, as well as power supply and emergency relief in island and coastal areas.
In the 1980s, in the Soviet Union, a floating nuclear power plant "Volnolom 3" with an ABV-6 reactor (capacity 12 MW) was developed for use at the MO test site on Novaya Zemlya. However, work on the creation of this FNPP was stopped at the initial stage.
Launched the world's largest nuclear-powered icebreaker >>
The first civil FNPP project in Russia appeared in the early 1990s. In the course of implementing Decree of the Government of Russia No. 389 dated June 9, 1992 on ways to overcome the crisis in the fuel energy complex of the Far East and Eastern Siberia, in 1993, a group of experts from Minatom proposed the use of low-power nuclear power plants (100–180 MW) based on ship and ship nuclear reactors. power installations. By order of the Ministry of Atomic Energy of Russia in the period 1992-1994. a number of competitions were held for the best design of a low-power nuclear power plant, organized by Small Power Engineering JSC. In the class of reactor plants over 50 MW, the first place in the competition was awarded to the NPP project based on a floating power unit with two reactor plants of the KLT-40S type.
The active phase of construction of the lead floating power unit for the first Russian FNPP began in 2007.Malaysia, Indonesia, South Korea, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, India, Vietnam have shown great interest in the project, and Rosatom plans to lease the FNPP to these countries. Rosatom also considers the countries of South America as a promising market.
During last week's International Naval Salon 2013, officials from the Russian United Shipbuilding Corporation announced some news regarding the latest achievements in the industry and ongoing projects. Thus, the management of the Baltic Shipyard (St. Petersburg) shared information about the progress of one of the most daring projects of recent times - the construction of the Akademik Lomonosov floating nuclear thermal power plant (FNPP).
Baltzavod director A. Voznesensky said that the first domestic floating nuclear thermal power plant will be built by 2016. Currently, the installation of the ship's structures is underway, and in three years Rosatom will receive the world's first FNPP. The vessel will be able to provide electricity and heat to cities and enterprises in hard-to-reach areas of the country, primarily in the Far North. Shortly after the completion of the construction of the first floating power plant, it is planned to begin construction of the next vessels of this series.
The construction of the first vessel with nuclear power plant units on board is currently underway. Workers of the Baltiysky Zavod assemble metal structures and install equipment. Work has begun on the installation of some elements of the reactors. Thus, the construction project of the Akademik Lomonosov FNPP finally got off the ground. Recall that the construction of a vessel with a nuclear power module began in 2007 at the Sevmash plant in Severodvinsk. However, a few months after the start of construction, all the assembled units of the future floating power plant were transferred to the Baltic Shipyard, where it was supposed to continue work. However, such plans did not materialize and construction was frozen for several years. The current work is being carried out in accordance with a new agreement between Rosatom and Baltzavod, signed in December last year.
The finished floating nuclear thermal power plant "Akademik Lomonosov" will be a non-self-propelled vessel with a displacement of over 21 thousand tons. The absence of its own power plant is due to the peculiarities of the FNPP operation. It is assumed that tugboats will bring her to the place of work, after which the ship standing in the port will be connected to the communications of the supplied facility and will provide it with heat and electricity for a specified period. The FNPP crew of 69 people will control the operation of two nuclear reactors capable of generating up to 70 MW of electricity and 300 MW of heat. If necessary, the power plant will be able to work as a seawater desalination plant. In this mode, the calculated maximum capacity of the Akademik Lomonosov FNPP is 240,000 cubic meters of fresh water per hour. 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 developers and builders of the first floating nuclear thermal power plant are the Iceberg Central Design Bureau, OKBM im. I.I. Afrikantova and Baltiysky Zavod - emphasize that the design of the ship and the nuclear power plant uses developments that have been tested in northern conditions for many decades. The Akademik Lomonosov FNPP project includes a margin of safety that significantly exceeds all possible threats, including tsunamis, collisions with other ships or coastal structures, etc. similar disasters. The level of safety of nuclear power plants of new FNPPs fully complies with all international requirements for such equipment.
Due to the remoteness of such events, it is not yet known exactly where the first Russian FNPP will go. Earlier, during the beginning of the construction of the lead ship, it was stated that such power plants would serve in the Far East and the Far North. The Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Taimyr and Kamchatka were indicated as possible places of work. Perhaps in the future, such a list of territories that need to be supplied by floating power plants will undergo serious changes. It is noteworthy that the characteristics and capabilities of the Russian FNPPs were of interest not only to Russian officials and businessmen. Several foreign countries showed their interest in such vessels: Algeria, Argentina, Indonesia, Malaysia, etc.
For obvious reasons, it is too early to talk about FNPP deliveries to foreign countries. The lead vessel of this class will be built only in 2016, after which it will take some time to complete a series of floating power plants for domestic Russian needs. Therefore, the start of construction of export analogues of the vessel "Akademik Lomonosov" should be expected no earlier than the end of the current decade. Approximately by the same time, it is possible to complete the construction of the next vessel of the series for Rosatom.
According to the websites:
http://russian.rt.com/
http://morvesti.ru/
http://okbm.nnov.ru/
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 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. Considering the growing interest in the Arctic on the part of a number of countries, and the fact that meeting the energy 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, in case of its successful operation, 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.
