Ceremony marks docking of Russia's floating plant

20 September 2019


Rosatom’s first of a kind floating power unit docks ahead of commission in Chukotka (photo: Rosenergoatom)Russia’s Akademik Lomonosov floating NPP (FNPP) successfully docked at its permanent base in Chukotka on 14 September.

A ceremony was held in Pevek to mark the event attended by: the governor of the Chukotka Autonomous Region, Roman Kopin; the deputy general director of state nuclear corporation Rosatom; the director of the Directorate of the Northern Sea Route Vyacheslav Ruksha; the director general of nuclear utility Rosenergoatom, Andrei Petrov; other officials from Rosatom and Rosenergoatom; and the head of Pevek city district Nikolay Levanov.  

Kopin said Pevek “in the near future will become one of the main pillars of the Northern Sea Route, as well as the new energy capital of all Chukotka”. Let me remind you that at the beginning of the next decade we expect the final shutdown of power units at the main energy source for Chukotka - the Bilibino NPP. After that, the function of the main energy generator will be transferred to the floating nuclear power plant.”
 
Petrov noted that all construction work to build the hydraulic structures that provide for mooring the FNPP to the pier has been completed. “In the coming months, the final stage of commissioning will be carried out  related to preparations for the supply of electric and thermal energy to the coastal infrastructure, he said. “The main tasks of this year are to complete the construction of the Beregovaya substation by the end of November and complete the commissioning of the FNPP by 31 December."
 
Ruksha said the FNPP “is a unique energy source that can supply industrial enterprises, port cities, and oil and gas production and processing facilities on the Northern Sea Route (NSR). Stable and environmentally friendly energy supply of the northern territories is one of the most important components of the successful development of the NSR.”
 
The FNPP left Murmansk on 23 August 2019, accompanied by the Dikson icebreaker and two tugboats. In total, from the beginning of towing from the pier in Murmansk to Pevek, the ship covered a distance of 2640 miles. It will power the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug and supply heat to the city of Pevek, replacing the capacities of the technologically obsolete Bilibino NPP and the Chaun thermal plant.

Rosatom said the FNPP is designed with a large margin of safety to counter external threats. The station is equipped with two KLT-40S icebreaker-type reactors, which are capable of generating up to 70 MW of electricity and 50 Gcal / h of thermal energy. Rosatom is now working on a second generation  FNPP, the Optimized Floating Power Unit (OFPU), which will be smaller and more powerful than its predecessor. It will be equipped with two RITM-200M reactors with a total capacity of 100MWe.


Photo: Rosatom’s first of a kind floating power unit docks ahead of commission in Chukotka (photo: Rosenergoatom)



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