Brazil plans to purchase floating NPP (FNPP) from Russia for operation in Amazonas, Brazilian daily newspaper Folha de S Paulo has reported. According to Brazil’s Minister of Mining & Energy, Alexandre Silveira de Oliveira, negotiations are currently underway with Rosatom. The use of FNPPs is especially relevant for Amazonas, Brazil’s largest state, which is isolated from Brazil’s energy infrastructure and depends largely on diesel power plants.
The Vice President for Marketing & Development at Rusatom International Network (part of Rosatom), Egor Kvyatkovsky, announced during the recent St Petersburg International Economic Forum that Rosatom expects to develop cooperation with partners from Brazil in projects to build NPPs, including FNPPs.
Subsequently, Nuclear Industries of Brazil (INB – Indústrias Nucleares do Brasil) signed a contract with the Ministry of Science Technology & Innovation (MCTI – Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação) and with the Financier of Studies and Projects (Finep – Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos) for the development and testing of critical technologies applicable to Nuclear Microreactors (MRN Microrreatores Nucleares) in Brazil.
Russia launched the world’s first FNPP, the Akademik Lomonosov in December 2019, which is now operating in Pevek (Chukotka). The FNPP includes two KLT-40S reactor units. Future Russian FNPPs and small ground-based low-power NPPs will have larger RITM reactors.
