Akademik Lomonosov

Akademik Lomonosov (Russian: Академик Ломоносов) is a non-self-propelled power barge that operates as the first Russian floating nuclear power station. The ship was named after Academician Mikhail Lomonosov. She is docked to the harbour of Pevek, providing heat to the town and supplying electricity to the regional Chaun-Bilibino power system. She is the world’s northernmost nuclear power plant.[3]

This article is about a Russian floating nuclear power station. For the Russian academician, see Mikhail Lomonosov.

Akademik Lomonosov being transported from Murmansk (23 August 2019)
History
Name: Akademik Lomonosov
Namesake: Mikhail Lomonosov
Owner: Rosatom
Port of registry: 2019 onwards: Saint Petersburg,  Russia
Builder:
Cost: 37.3 billion rubles (2015)[1]
Yard number: 05710
Laid down: 15 April 2007
Launched: 30 June 2010[2]
Completed: 2018
Acquired: 4 July 2019
In service: 22 May 2020
Identification:
Status: In service
General characteristics
Class and type: nuclear powership (barge)
Displacement: 21,500 tonnes
Length: 144.4 m (474 ft)
Beam: 30 m (98 ft)
Height: 10 m (33 ft)
Draft: 5.6 m (18 ft)
Crew: 69
Notes: 2 modified KLT-40S nuclear reactors (icebreaker type) producing 35x2 MW electric or 150x2 MW thermal

History

Construction started at the Sevmash Submarine-Building Plant in Severodvinsk. The keel of Akademik Lomonosov was laid on 15 April 2007 and completion was initially planned in May 2010.[4] The celebrations were attended by the first deputy prime minister of Russia, Sergei Ivanov, and by the head of Rosatom, Sergei Kiriyenko.[5]

In August 2008, the Russian government approved the transfer of work from Sevmash to the Baltic Shipyard (Baltiysky Zavod) in Saint Petersburg.[4] A second keel-laying was done at the new shipyard in May 2009.[6] Akademik Lomonosov was launched on 30 June 2010.[7] The first reactor, a KLT-40S design by OKBM Afrikantov, was delivered in May 2009 and the second one in August 2009 by AtomEnergoProekt (NN-AEP);[8] they have been installed in October 2013.[9]

Originally, Akademik Lomonosov was supposed to supply power to the Sevmash shipyard itself and the town Severodvinsk, located in Arkhangelsk Oblast in Northwest Russia,[8] however, it was decided later to deploy the power barge at Pevek, in the Chukotka region in Russia's Far East. It was expected to be delivered in 2019, and to replace the nearby Bilibino Nuclear Power Plant which was at the end of its service life.[6]

On 28 April 2018, it left St. Petersburg under tow for Murmansk, where it received nuclear fuel for the first time. On 17 May 2018, it arrived at Murmansk.[10] The Akademik Lomonosov power station was officially handed over to the Russian state nuclear power company on 4 July 2019.[11] The 5000 km (3100 mi) towing operation through the Arctic Ocean by icebreaker Dikson began on 23 August 2019.[12] On 9 September 2019, it arrived at its permanent location in the Chukotka district, the far eastern end of the Far East region.[13] It started operation on 19 December 2019.[14] On 22 May 2020 the plant has been fully commissioned, by that date it had delivered 47.3 GWh zero-emissions electric energy, covering 20% of demand in the region.[15]

Initially, estimated costs were 6 billion rubles ($232 million),[4] whereas later calculations in 2015 summed up to 37 billion rubles ($700 million), including infrastructure reinforcements in Pevek.[16]

Description

Akademik Lomonosov has a length of 144 metres (472 ft) and width of 30 metres (98 ft). It has a displacement of 21,500 tonnes and a crew of 69 people.[17] According to The New York Times, it will have a crew of about 300 people.[18] For the power generation, it has two modified KLT-40 naval propulsion reactors, which together provide thermal reactor power of 300 MW which is transformed in two turbo-generating sets into 70 MW of electricity (gross). The Akademik Lomonosov can work as cogeneration plant, as waste heat is collected and she can provide up to 60 MW thermal power via clamped pipelines for heating purposes, peak heat delivery is up to 170 MW while reducing the electric output to 30 MW (cf. extraction steam turbine).[19] Another joint product is up to 240,000 m3/d freshwater made from seawater.[20]

Reactors were designed by OKBM Afrikantov and assembled by Nizhniy Novgorod Research and Development Institute Atomenergoproekt (both part of Atomenergoprom). The reactor vessels were produced by Izhorskiye Zavody.[8] The turbo-generators were supplied by Kaluga Turbine Plant.[4]

Unit [21] type &
model		 el. power
(net)		 el. power
(gross)		 thermal
power		 construction start first
grid connection		 commercial
operation		 references
Akademik Lomonosov 1PWR / KLT-40S32 MW35 MW150 MW2007-04-152019-12-192020-05-22[22]
Akademik Lomonosov 2PWR / KLT-40S32 MW35 MW150 MW2007-04-152019-12-192020-05-22[23]

Criticism

Akademik Lomonosov has come under criticism from environmental groups such as Greenpeace and the Bellona Foundation. The Bellona Foundation had written an entire report of its criticism of the floating nuclear power plant.[24][25] Greenpeace criticized the project as one that may cause harm to a "fragile environment which is already under enormous pressure from climate change", referring to the project using terms such as "nuclear Titanic" and "Chernobyl on Ice".[26]

Rosatom explained in response that the PWR reactor technology used in the power plant has nothing in common with the old RBMK reactor design in Chernobyl and is designed to shut down automatically without external power and human intervention in case of emergency. The design incorporates all the state-of-the-art safeguards as documented in IAEA INSAG-3 recommendation and Russian civilian reactors had not a single accident leading to a radioactive leak in 34 years.[27][18] Akademik Lomonosov is not the first marine vessel with nuclear reactors, with nuclear marine propulsion used by many military and civilian vessels since the 1950s.

References
  1. "А ледоколы подождут..." Российская газета. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
  2. "Baltiysky Shipyard launches the Akademik Lomonosov, part of nuclear powered plant". Portnews. 30 June 2010. Retrieved 20 July 2010.
  3. Плавучая атомная теплоэлектростанция выдала первую электроэнергию в сеть Чукотки
  4. "Russia relocates construction of floating power plant". World Nuclear News. 11 August 2008. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  5. Kukushkin, Mikhail (16 April 2007). "Плавучие АЭС готовят к экспорту" [Floating NPPs are being prepared for export]. Vremya Novostey (in Russian). Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  6. "Work starts on on-shore infrastructure for Russian floating plant". World Nuclear News. 7 October 2016. Archived from the original on 9 June 2019. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  7. Stolyarova, Galina (1 July 2010). "Nuclear Power Vessel Launched". The St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved 20 July 2010.
  8. "Reactors ready for floating plant". World Nuclear News. 7 August 2009. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  9. "Project: Akademik Lomonosov Floating Nuclear Power Plant". NS Energy. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  10. "Floating plant arrives at Murmansk for fueling". World Nuclear News. 21 May 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  11. "Floating Nuclear Power Plant Will Be Key Element on Northern Sea Route". The Moscow Times. 4 July 2019. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  12. "Russia's controversial floating nuclear plant sets sail for the Arctic". Global News. The Canadian Press. 23 August 2019. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  13. Soldatkin, Vladimir (14 September 2019). "Russia's first sea-borne nuclear power plant arrives to its base". Reuters. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
  14. "Russia connects floating plant to grid". World Nuclear News. 19 December 2019. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  15. "Russia commissions floating NPP". World Nuclear News. 22 May 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  16. Patel, Sonal (1 July 2015). "Floating Nuclear Power Plant Costs Balloon". powermag.com. Access Intelligence. Retrieved 1 September 2020. Costs for the Akademik Lomonosov, Russia’s flagship floating nuclear power plant, have reportedly mushroomed to 37 billion rubles ($700 million), an increase of more than 300% from the original 2006 estimate of nine billion rubles ($170 million).
  17. "Two floating nuclear plants for Chukotka". World Nuclear News. 5 April 2007. Archived from the original on 17 February 2011. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
  18. "The Nuclear Power Plant of the Future May Be Floating Near Russia". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
  19. Trutnev, Vitaly (29 June 2020). "The future of small-capacity power reactors (The example of a floating power unit "Akademik Lomonosov")". revistanuclear.es. Sociedad Nuclear Española. Retrieved 20 September 2020. In the maximum heat output mode, which is about 145 Gcal/h, the electric energy supplied to the onshore grid is about 30 MW.
  20. "Akademik Lomonosov Floating Nuclear Co-generation Plant". power-technology.com. Verdict Media. Retrieved 20 September 2020. It can also be converted into a desalination plant with a capacity to produce 240,000 cubic metres of fresh water each day.
  21. "Country details". Power Reactor Information System. International Atomic Energy Agency. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  22. Akademik Lomonosov-1, Power Reactor Information System (PRIS), International Atomic Energy Agency, 2020-09-13.
  23. Akademik Lomonosov-2, Power Reactor Information System (PRIS), International Atomic Energy Agency, 2020-09-13.
  24. "Rosatom says it's hitting schedule targets in prepping its floating nuclear plant - Bellona.org". Bellona.org. 3 September 2018. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
  25. "Russia's floating 'nuclear Titanic' sets sail on first controversial voyage". The Independent. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
  26. "World's first floating nuclear power plant bound for the Arctic, warns Greenpeace". Greenpeace International. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  27. "Get the Facts". AKADEMIK LOMONOSOV, a floating nuclear power plant. Retrieved 26 May 2020.

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