15 new floating nuclear power plants may appear along the Northern Sea Route in Russia in the next few years as Rosatom sees such a volume of potential demand from development in the region. This was stated at the session "Northern Sea Route: New Challenges" during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum by the head of the state corporation Alexei Likhachev.
“According to the most conservative estimates, today we see an order for about 15 floating power units along the NSR,” RBC quotes Likhachev.
According to Likhachev, such orders are also of interest to the region's energy companies.
Alexey Likhachev recalled that Rosatom is already implementing a corresponding project for power supply to the Baimsky GOK in Chukotka, which is being built by the Kazakh KAZ Minerals. This project required a minimum of four such floating nuclear thermal power plants (FNPPs). The cost of this project of the state corporation was estimated at 169 billion rubles.
The very first FNPP in the world began operation in the city of Pevek, Chukotka, in December 2019. This floating power plant is supporting the capacities of the Bilibino Nuclear Power Plant and the Chaunskaya CHPP. It began to be built in the 2000s at the Baltic Shipyard in St. Petersburg with the head power unit launched in 2010. The 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. It is docked in the Pevek harbour, providing heat to the town and supplying electricity to the regional Chaun-Bilibino power system. It is the world’s northernmost nuclear power plant.
Pevek is an Arctic port town with a population of about 4.5 thousand people located on the shores of the Arctic Ocean in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug.
Chukotka is a region in the Russian Far East and is the northeasternmost region of Russia. Located along the Bering Strait, Chukotka is home to beautiful tundra scenery and the indigenous Chukchi people. Its possessions include the Chukotka Peninsula, part of the continent, as well as several islands: Romanov Island, Wrangel, Ayon, Herald and others. The extreme points of Russia are located in Chukotka: the easternmost point is Romanov Island, the eastern continental point is Cape Dezhnev as well as the northernmost city of Russia - Pevek, as well as the easternmost city - Anadyr.
Earlier, the Russian government called the development of the Northern Sea Route the most cost-effective investment mega-project in Russia: until 2035, it is estimated to bring almost 21 trillion rubles to the budgets of all levels, with only 600 billion rubles invested in it from the federal budget. The Ministry of Natural Resources plans to develop a draft law on state environmental monitoring along the Northern Sea Route by August .
Source: Taimyr Telegraph