Floating nuclear power plants in the far north. Floating nuclear power plant: project participants, all the pros and cons. Floating nuclear power plant "Akademik Lomonosov"
Another dangerous Rosatom project.
The idea is related to placement in the Russian north and Far East floating nuclear power plants based on icebreaking reactors of the KLT-40S type. Among the proposed sites: Vilyuchinsk (Kamchatka), Pevek (Chukotka), Severodvinsk (Arkhangelsk region).
Malaysia, Indonesia, South Korea, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, India, and Vietnam have shown interest in the project, and Rosatom plans to lease floating nuclear power plants to these countries. As promising market Rosatom is considering Brazil, Uruguay, Chile.
The very idea of using nuclear energy in transport installations is not new. Similar projects were developed in Germany and the USA. But these countries have now abandoned floating nuclear power plant projects, considering them unpromising. Experts say that in the event of an accident where radioactivity escapes from the ship, vast areas will be exposed to radioactive contamination. And experience in operating ship reactors and ships with reactor installations.
Moreover, dangerous ones are added to the usual list of accident risk factors. natural phenomena(earthquakes, tsunamis), maritime piracy and terrorism. In the event of the capture of the nuclear power plant (HEU), they also get a chance for nuclear blackmail.
Possible contracts for the supply of floating nuclear power plants abroad must take into account the requirements for the physical protection of nuclear energy facilities and control over the non-proliferation of nuclear materials. It is known how difficult (if not impossible) it is to protect a large ship from external attack. Physical protection of the station will require the maintenance of significant militarized security, that is, the participation of the Russian naval forces. But even then, it is practically impossible to ensure absolute protection of the station from its underwater part from a torpedo strike 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 produce electricity.
The world's first floating nuclear power plant, designed to withstand tsunamis and earthquakes like those that caused the Fukushima disaster in 2011, will open in the Russian Far North - Chukotka and begin generating electricity in 2020.
“At the moment, the platform with two reactors on board is undergoing sea tests in the dock, which will be completed by the end of this year or in 2017,” Georgy Tikhomirov, a professor at the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute (MEPhI), told EFE ( National Research Nuclear University "MEPhI" - approx. ed.).
The nuclear power plant will then be towed from St. Petersburg to Russia's northernmost city of Pevek (Chukotka), which is located in a protected bay, to replace a conventional power plant.
“The construction of the necessary port infrastructure for the installation of a floating nuclear power plant began at the end of 2015. Before installing supports for the platform, it is necessary to connect the power line to transmit energy to the general network,” he explained.
First kilowatt in 2020
The professor expects that “by 2020 the floating nuclear power plant will produce its first kilowatt of electricity,” calling this period “realistic” regardless of fluctuations in the economy.
The barge on which both nuclear reactors are installed is 144 meters long, 30 meters wide, has a draft of 6 meters and displaces 21 thousand tons. “It's like a cruise. The staff will live on the platform in the conditions of a four-star hotel, with all the amenities, because they will have to spend a whole year in the cabins,” Tikhomirov noted.
As for the reactors (KLT-40C), each of them has a power of 40 MW, they can operate simultaneously and will have a fuel supply for autonomous operation for three years.
“Every three years the fuel is refueled, and every twelve years a full maintenance is carried out. It is assumed that the total operating life of the nuclear power plant is 40 years,” reports EFE’s source.
The station will use low-enriched uranium, and spent fuel will be stored on the platform itself. According to a Russian physicist, a floating nuclear power plant is capable of producing the same amount of electricity as a conventional one.
Tikhomirov believes that the reactors installed on the platform are “absolutely reliable,” as evidenced by their uninterrupted operation for many years on board “at least three nuclear icebreakers.”
In the event of a tsunami or earthquake, nuclear power plants will be raised above sea level. “The reactor units are compact and autonomous. These are not the same reactors as were installed at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, of course. The Fukushima scenario is also excluded,” says the scientist.
The expert explained that in the event of a tsunami or earthquake threat, which is “unlikely” in the Arctic, “the nuclear power plant will be raised above sea level using the strong supports on which it is installed.”
"It's complicated technical solution, but it guarantees both security and uninterrupted supply of electricity,” he said.
After the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan (2011) Russian authorities promised not to place floating nuclear power plants in areas with high seismic activity. For this reason, the option of installing a station on the volcanic Kamchatka Peninsula in the Pacific Ocean was excluded.
Greenpeace: time bomb
Greenpeace, on the contrary, believes that such stations are real “time bombs”, since they accumulate large amounts of uranium, and, in addition, are a “gift for terrorists”, which means that an entire military fleet will be required to protect them, which will make the project extremely expensive.
In response to these statements, Tikhomirov rules out the possible threat of a terrorist takeover of the nuclear power plant, since all modern nuclear power plants are equipped with extraordinary security measures to prevent access to radioactive fuel.
“Until now there has not been a single attempt to seize nuclear power plants. In addition, Chukotka, due to its remoteness, is a completely safe place,” the scientist recalled.
In addition to supplying environmentally friendly electricity to remote areas, a floating nuclear power plant is capable of generating heat, which will eliminate the use of coal, gas and oil for these purposes.
Research of Russian Arctic resources
The success of this first project will determine whether Russian government construction of the remaining planned floating nuclear power plants - although Rosatom has already prepared documentation for 5-7 mobile platforms for “research of the resources of the Russian Arctic.”
“The advantage of a floating nuclear power plant is that it can be moored almost anywhere where there is a power line,” notes Tikhomirov.
He believes that “if oil is found on the Arctic shelf, (...) the most logical thing would be to install a floating nuclear power plant there.”
"Why? Yes, because a conventional power plant will cost much more,” the professor assures and adds that the melting of Arctic ice and the opening of the Arctic sea route as an alternative to the Suez Canal will instantly increase the demand for floating nuclear power plants on the market.
Tikhomirov is convinced that such plants could become a “good commercial product”, but considers it “premature” to talk about their export, although countries such as Chile, Brazil or Indonesia have already expressed their interest in the project, and China has decided to launch its own version of floating nuclear power plants .
The United States launched a floating nuclear power plant (Surgis) in the Panama Canal in 1968, which was decommissioned in 1976 due to high costs on its content.
Academician Lomonosov- a floating nuclear power plant under construction, project 20870, planned to be located in the city of Pevek, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. Includes a floating energy unit and a complex of onshore structures. The project has been implemented since 2007, commissioning is scheduled for the second half of 2019.
| Academician Lomonosov | |
|---|---|
| A country | Russia Russia |
| Location | Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Pevek |
| Year of construction start | 2007 |
| Commissioning | 2019 (plan) |
| Operating organization | Rosenergoatom |
| Main characteristics | |
| Electric power, MW | 70 MW |
| Equipment characteristics | |
| Number of power units | 1 |
| Reactor type | KLT-40S |
| Operating reactors | 2 |
| other information | |
| Website | Floating nuclear power plants (FNPP) |
| On the map | |
Description of the station
Floating power unit
The floating nuclear thermal power plant is designed to produce electrical and thermal energy. Floating power plants can also be used for desalination of sea water (estimated from 40 to 240 cubic meters of fresh water per day).
The floating power unit is designed to operate as part of a nuclear thermal power plant low power and provides, in nominal mode, the supply of 60 MW of electricity and up to 50 Gcal/h of thermal energy to the coastal networks for heating district heating water. The electric power supplied to the coastal network without consumption of thermal energy by the shore is about 70 MW. In the mode of delivering maximum thermal power of about 145 Gcal/h, the electrical power supplied to the coastal network is about 30 MW.
The floating power unit is a non-self-propelled rack-mount type vessel with a double bottom and double sides, with a developed superstructure designed in the bow and middle parts to accommodate power equipment, and in the stern - a residential unit. Part power plant The FPU includes two KLT-40S reactor units developed by Afrikantov OKBM, two steam turbine units manufactured by Kaluga Turbine Plant OJSC (KTZ OJSC), auxiliary systems and equipment.
Main characteristics of the FPU:
- cable length 140.0 m;
- maximum length 144.2 m;
- maximum width 30.0 m;
- side height to VP 10.0 m;
- draft along the vertical line 5.5 m;
- displacement approx. 21560 t.
The designated service life of the power unit is 35 ÷ 40 years with annual technical maintenance And current repairs individual equipment, which are carried out without taking the power unit out of operation, and factory (medium) repairs after 10-12 years of operation.
The FPU will accommodate about 70 service personnel. For this purpose, there are residential cabins, a dining room, a lounge, a library, a sports complex ( gym, Gym, swimming pool, sauna, bathhouse), shop, laundry, etc. A galley and provision block are provided for cooking and storing food. To provide first medical care an outpatient clinic is provided.
Coastal infrastructure
Onshore facilities of the floating nuclear power plant are designed to receive and distribute electricity supplied from the floating nuclear power plant and hot water(for city heating) are located in the city of Pevek, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. To protect the FPU during operation from sea waves and the accumulation of drifting ice, a protective pier-berth is provided, which is a solid type barrier with passage holes to ensure normal hydrothermal parameters of the water area for the operation of the FPU.
Project cost
Initially, the total cost of construction of the floating nuclear power plant was estimated at 9.1 billion rubles. During the construction process, the cost of the station increased many times and as of 2015 was already estimated at 37.3 billion rubles, taking into account the coastal infrastructure.
History of construction
Design
The design of low-power nuclear power plants began in the USSR in the 70s of the twentieth century. JSC Afrikantov OKBM takes an active part in the development of these projects. Based on the experience of creating and operating marine reactors, JSC Afrikantov OKBM is developing a number of reactor plant designs for autonomous low-power nuclear power sources in the range from 6 to 100 MW(e). The ABV-6E and KLT-40S low-power projects that are most ready for implementation involve the placement of a nuclear power plant on land and on non-self-propelled floating vessels.
Chronicle of construction
- May 19, 2006: JSC PA Sevmash (Severodvinsk, Arkhangelsk Region) was declared the winner of the tender for the construction of a power plant.
- April 15, 2007: the floating power unit “Akademik Lomonosov” was laid down at Sevmash. The completion date for construction is 2010.
- August 2008: due to repeated postponements of construction deadlines, a decision was made to transfer the work to JSC Baltic Plant in St. Petersburg.
- May 2009: the first of two KLT-40s reactors was delivered to Baltic Plant JSC. The second reactor was delivered in August 2009.
- June 30, 2010: FPU launched; Installation of reactor and power equipment is carried out at the outfitting berth of JSC Baltic Plant.
- On September 15, 2011, the project to locate a floating nuclear power plant in the city of Pevek received a positive conclusion from the state environmental assessment.
- On September 27 and October 1, 2013, 220-ton steam generating units, manufactured according to the project of JSC Afrikantov OKBM, were transported from the boathouse of workshop No. 6 of the Baltic Plant to the outfitting embankment, where they were loaded into the FPU compartments.
- October 4, 2016: construction of the onshore infrastructure of the floating nuclear power plant began.
- April 28, 2018: towing of the floating power unit began to the site of complex testing at the FSUE Atomflot base in Murmansk.
- May 19, 2019: FPU "Akademik Lomonosov" successfully moored at the FSUE Atomflot base.
- November 2, 2018: The physical startup of reactor No. 1 was carried out.
- November 20, 2018: The physical start-up of reactor No. 2 was carried out.
- August - September 2019: planned transportation of FPU to Pevek;
- December 2019: planned commissioning of the floating nuclear power plant.
Personnel training
Currently, personnel training for FNPP is carried out in the training unit of FNPP on the basis of the St. Petersburg branch of the ANO DPO "Technical Academy of Rosatom".
Prospects
Initially, when developing the FNPP project, options for locating the station in the city of Severodvinsk in the Arkhangelsk Region and the city of Vilyuchinsk in Kamchatka were considered. Currently, work on the construction of a pier-berth and a complex of coastal structures intended for operation as part of a floating nuclear power plant is being carried out in the city of Pevek, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. The placement of a floating power unit on this site is planned for the fall of 2019
Island states, in particular the Republic of Cape Verde, are showing interest in floating nuclear power plants
It should be noted that during the long (12 years) construction of the floating nuclear power plant, its cost has increased significantly compared to 2007 estimates.
The technological cycle of a floating nuclear power plant involves a 12-year campaign, after which the floating power unit must be towed to a specialized enterprise for medium repairs and reloading of nuclear fuel, which takes a year. As a result, the floating nuclear power plant cannot be the only source of energy supply and requires the construction of a backup energy source that ensures the supply of electricity and heat to consumers while the floating nuclear power plant is undergoing repairs and refuelling. To back up the float power plant in Pevek, it is planned to build a new thermal power plant with a capacity of 48 MW, estimated cost 18.9 billion rubles.
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The floating nuclear thermal power plant (FNPP) “Akademik Lomonosov” is the lead project of the 20870 series of mobile, transportable low-power power units designed to supply energy to large industrial enterprises, port cities, as well as oil and gas production and processing complexes on the sea shelf. The power unit is being created on the basis of the power plant of nuclear icebreakers, tested during their long-term operation in the Arctic.
The floating nuclear power plant has a maximum electrical power 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 JSC Afrikantov OKBM (part of the Rosatom machine-building holding JSC Atomenergomash).
The construction of the world's first floating nuclear power plant, Akademik Lomonosov, is currently being carried out by Baltic Shipyard LLC, St. Petersburg.
Main characteristics: Displacement 21,500 tons. The length will be 144 meters, width 30 meters, side height 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 to transport it.
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 thousand people.
The floating nuclear power plant can be used as a desalination plant, producing up to 240 thousand cubic meters of water daily.
The designated service life of the FPU is 35 - 40 years.
Reactors are recharged at intervals of 2.5 - 3.0 years.
FNPP is designed with large supply strength, which exceeds all possible threats and makes nuclear reactors invulnerable to tsunamis and other natural disasters. Besides, 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 PA Sevmash for the construction of the floating nuclear power plant "Akademik Lomonosov", which on May 19, 2006 became the winner in a closed tender for the creation of low-power floating nuclear power plants, 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 floating nuclear power plant would be built in 2010 for the needs of Severodvinsk.
At the beginning of 2008, a conflict arose between Rosatom and Sevmash due to delays in construction and an increase in its cost. As a result, Rosatom raised the issue with the Russian Government about transferring the construction of a floating power unit to the Baltic Shipyard in St. Petersburg, which was done in 2008.
The customer of the pilot floating nuclear power plant is the state-owned Rosenergoatom Concern, which in February 2009 entered into a contract with the Baltic Shipyard.
On June 30, 2010, the leading floating power unit “Akademik Lomonosov” was launched from the plant’s stocks, which will become the main element of the future floating nuclear power plant.
On August 3, 2011, the tightening began power cable on the floating power unit of Project 20870, and also completed the complex and labor-intensive process of loading steam turbine units onto the FPU.
In 2011, the company went bankrupt and at the end of 2011 came under the control of the state represented by the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC). Within the structure of the USC, Baltic Shipyard - Shipbuilding LLC was created, to which all the shipbuilding and machine-building competencies of the Baltic Shipyard were transferred, and the entire three-thousand-strong workforce also transferred to it.
According to a message dated June 1, 2012, Baltic Shipyard 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 with valid until May 30, 2017.
On December 7, 2012, the Baltic Plant 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 the deputy. General Director of the Rosenergoatom concern Sergey Zavyalov and CEO Baltic plant Alexander Voznesensky. According to the terms of the contract, Baltic Shipyard LLC undertakes to deliver the FPU, ready for towing to the operation site, on September 09, 2016. At the moment, the facility is 60% complete.
On January 25 and 26, 2013, the loading of metal-water protection tanks (MVZ) for nuclear reactors took place at the facility.
September 27 (first) and October 1 (second), 2013, 220-ton steam generating units manufactured according to the OKBM design. Afrikantov, were from the Baltic Shipyard 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 reactor compartments of the FPU using a Demag floating crane.
According to a message dated April 24, 2014, she won the competition for insurance of the head floating vessel under construction energy block(FPU) of project 20870 with KLT 40S reactor units for a floating nuclear thermal power plant. The total insured amount 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 floating nuclear power plant is 85%, work is being carried out according to schedule. According to a report 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 (CIPC) of Rosatom.
July 01, 2016 mooring tests to be completed October 30, 2017. December 16, 2016 at 10:00 am on the upper deck of a floating power unit under construction, order 05711, caused by smoldering rags (1 sq. m.). The smoldering has been eliminated on our 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 plants. The corresponding insurance agreement was concluded with Rosenergoatom Concern JSC based on the results of an open competition. On April 17, 2017, they began, which are taking place at the “Baltic Shipyard - Shipbuilding”. According to a message dated December 15, one of the two turbines of the power unit (PPU) was put into rotation in the turbine room.
The main FPU "Akademik Lomonosov" is being built for a floating nuclear power plant in the city of Pevek, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. The planned date for completion of construction and readiness of the FPU for towing to its home site is the end of 2017. According to a message dated February 26, 2018, the inclination test, which was carried out during mooring tests, ended. According to the message dated April 18, engineering installations were carried out. On April 28 to Murmansk from the pier of JSC Baltic Plant, where I was on May 19. According to a message dated July 26, specialists from Baltic Plant JSC supplied nuclear fuel to the reactor installations of the floating nuclear power unit. According to a report dated September 28, loading of nuclear fuel into the reactor installation on the left side of a floating nuclear power unit. In September 2019, Rosenergoatom plans to begin installing the power unit at its regular location, and in the fall of 2019, begin testing the floating nuclear power plant and put it into operation.
In mid-August of this year, it became known: the world's first floating power unit, PEB-1, will be built not in Severodvinsk, but in St. Petersburg. The Government of the Russian Federation terminated the general contract with the Sevmash plant and entered into a new one with the Baltic Plant, and accordingly the project delivery date was postponed from 2010 to 2011. The motivation for this castling is simple: Sevmash has recently become very busy with military orders: we're talking about about the creation in the very near future of a group of nuclear submarines of a new generation, and in a somewhat more distant future - five or six aircraft carriers.
At the same time, such a transfer should give a little push to the stalled implementation of the idea of a floating nuclear power plant. Discussions about them have been going on for more than ten years, and the stated date - 2010 - has so far remained rather a good wish of the state corporation Rosatom and the Federal State Unitary Enterprise Concern Rosenergoatom. The new deadline - 2011 - is already being called a specific and real date for commissioning of the first station. An indirect confirmation of the seriousness of these intentions can be the renaming of the future owner of the station from FSUE Concern Rosenergoatom to OJSC Concern Energoatom, almost simultaneously with the transfer of the contract from Severodvinsk to St. Petersburg.
The original idea was expressed back in 1991-1994 and seems completely simple and obvious: if you take an ordinary Russian nuclear icebreaker and lay it up near the shore, then all the energy that it spends on breaking ice can be used to heat houses and generating electricity for them. At the same time, hot on the heels of Minatom (reformed into Rosatom in 2004), the first projects of floating stations were proposed, but things went slowly: no resources were allocated for their further development and serial construction, they had serious opponents both in the Duma and in the government. Now the political difficulties have been overcome; only technical and economic difficulties remain to be overcome. Sevmash began construction of the first station, called Akademik Lomonosov, back in 2007. And if after the start of operation it proves its profitability, then seven more similar stations will be built almost immediately.
The advantages of floating stations for Russia are obvious. Only the European part of the country can be considered developed in energy terms, and beyond the Urals - in Siberia, the Far East and the Far North - the situation with the supply of heat and electricity is very deplorable. Existing thermal power plants often find themselves without fuel at the beginning of winter; the development of normal energy infrastructure is hampered by permafrost and low population density.
The floating power unit, moored near the coastline, will be a 140-meter non-self-propelled barge with a displacement of 20 thousand tons. Two standard mobile nuclear reactors KTL-40S, 35 MW each, will be able to not only produce enough electricity for a city with a population of about 100 thousand inhabitants, but also to provide them with 150 Gcal/h of heat. The idea of autonomous energy supply for large buildings looked especially attractive to designers. industrial enterprise- in the original version, Sevmash actually acted as such an enterprise. The energy generated by the Akademik Lomonosov would be used to create new submarines. But for some reason this scenario was not implemented.
The mobility of FPUs presupposes a fundamentally new tactic in the energy sector: the station is not built at all in the place where it will be operated. They are delivered to objects in need of generated energy by tow. Such an object may itself be “wandering” - for example, if we are talking about explored but still undeveloped mineral deposits. In this case, experts believe, the ability to adjust the position of the “energy center” of a construction site provides important technological advantages. So, if things go well with the Akademik Lomonosov, then by 2015–2016 floating nuclear power plants will be waiting off the coast of Vilyuchinsk, Pevek and Nakhodka. In addition, Rosatom officials are counting on active exports under a leasing agreement for the services of such stations to Asian countries (Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam) and Africa (Algeria, Namibia), and, subject to the launch and operation of a floating nuclear power plant in Russia, an application for supply of electricity and fresh water from the government of Cape Verde.
From a technological point of view, the idea of a floating nuclear reactor itself does not raise any special questions - similar units have long been used on Russian nuclear icebreakers. However, there are two specific problems that need to be solved along the way, and it is with them that the main objections to the entire project as a whole and the concerns of human rights activists are associated. The first difficulty is in transferring energy to the consumer. It is assumed that the floating power unit will be installed at a specially equipped pier-terminal, to which power and heat transfer lines will be connected to transport energy to consumers. Among other things, the terminal must also ensure reliable fastening of the power unit near the shore. The station is serviced on a rotational basis by 60 to 140 specially trained personnel. The duration of the shift is about four months.
The second difficulty is more difficult to overcome. It is connected with the need to somehow ensure the safe operation of the station. First of all, you need to regularly load nuclear fuel and unload radioactive waste. Fortunately, this can be done quite rarely: once every 12–15 years, remove the station from lay-up, replacing it with another if necessary, and send it to the factory for reboot. In this, it is quite similar to a nuclear submarine, with the only difference being that after a decade and a half of inactivity, this “boat” may have additional reasons to drown along the way. The life of the FPU will also end in complete analogy with the life of a nuclear submarine by cutting out the reactor and burying it in a conventional nuclear burial ground.
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