A controversial mobile nuclear power plant, nicknamed the "floating Chernobyl", has just set sail from St. Petersburg and is making its way through the Baltic Sea.

It will be towed through Estonian, Danish, Swedish and Norwegian waters before landing in the small town of Murmansk in Russia, where it will be loaded up with nuclear fuel.

Akademik Lomonosov, as it's officially called, has two reactors and was intended to be loaded up and tested on St. Petersburg itself. However, it was moved to Mermansk after pressure from Green Peace Russia and other Baltic states. From Mermansk, the barge will travel east toward the Arctic before it settles on the coast of Chukotka and put into service in 2019. Here it will power a desalination plant, oil rig and a port town.

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The floating power plant is predicted to generate enough energy to power a town of 100,000 people, but as it embarks on its long journey, there are a fair few things that could go very wrong. For one, it doesn't have its own propeller’s, so needs to be towed to its destination. As Green Peace's Jan Haverkamp said in a statement: "The floating nuclear power plants will typically be put to use near coastlines and shallow water contrary to claims regarding safety, the flat-bottomed hull and the floating nuclear power plant's lack of self-propulsion makes it particularly vulnerable to tsunamis and cyclones."

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While state-controlled nuclear energy firm and owner of the Lomonosov, Rosatom, told the Independent that it is designed with a "great margin of safety," when you consider Russia doesn’t have the strongest track record when it comes to nuclear, it's hard not to be nervous about a "floating Chernobyl". The most disastrous nuclear accident, the Chernobyl explosion caused radioactive waste to spread over numerous countries and made parts of Ukraine completely uninhabitable.

With Russia already planning to launch a second floating power plant in 2019, and many other countries like China, Algeria, Malaysia and Argentina, reportedly in talks to hire one, we could soon see our waters populated with radioactive power plants.

Image: Shutterstock</s>On Saturday a new floating nuclear power plant left St. Petersburg, Russia, towed by two boats. The two-reactor, 70MW floating power plant is headed through the Baltic Sea and north around Norway, to a Russian town called Murmansk, where the boat will receive its fuel.

Scotland’s floating wind farm is showing how powerful offshore wind can be After a period of time in Murmansk, the power plant will be towed to a small Arctic town called Pevek, according to German broadcaster Deutsche Welle. The floating nuclear power plant, called the Akademik Lomonosov, doesn't have any of its own propulsion hardware, so being slowly towed to its destination is a necessity. The company that built the plant, state-owned Rosatom Corporation, said in a press release that the second stage of the journey, from Murmansk to Pevek, will commence in 2019, with fuel and crew aboard the boat/power plant.

Once the plant reaches Pevek, it will be used to power the 100,000-person town, a desalination plant, and oil rigs. Rosatom says that the Lomonosov is intended to replace the region's Bilibino nuclear power plant, which provides 48MW of nuclear power and was built in 1974, as well as the Chaunskaya Thermal Power Plant, which is now 70 years old. Bilibino was once the northern-most nuclear power plant in the world, but after the Lomonosov is in operation, it will inherit that title.

The project has not been without the kinds of delays that nuclear projects seem to inevitably face: in 2015, the Norway-based website Barents Observer wrote that the Lomonsov would be put into service by October 2016.

Aboard the NS Savannah, America’s first (and last) nuclear merchant ship Meanwhile, critics are concerned that a floating nuclear power plant is a situation ripe for disaster if the boat encounters extreme weather. In a statement, Greenpeace nuclear expert Jan Haverkamp cited concerns about the Lomonsov's flat-bottomed hull and its lack of self-propulsion despite the fact that it is intended to be anchored in relatively shallow water.

Rosatom's press release states that "All necessary construction works to create on-shore infrastructure are underway in Pevek. The pier, hydraulic engineering structures, and other buildings, crucial for the mooring of FPU [floating power unit] and operation of a FNPP [floating nuclear power plant] will be ready to use upon Akademik Lomonosov arrival."

A likely reason why Russia would want a floating power plant? The region in which it will be stationed is quite remote, and moving machinery out by land is far more expensive than moving it by sea. Deutsche Welle points out that climate change has made it easier for Russia to use northern sea routes for transportation between the country's west and east regions.

Correction: This story originally said that the Lomonsov was the world's first floating nuclear power plant but in fact the US military used a floating nuclear power plant on the Sturgis in Panama between 1968 and 1975.</s>On Saturday the world's first floating power plant left St. Petersburg, Russia, towed by two boats. The two-reactor, 70MW floating power plant is headed through the Baltic Sea and north around Norway, to a Russian town called Murmansk, where the boat will receive its fuel.

Scotland’s floating wind farm is showing how powerful offshore wind can be After a period of time in Murmansk, the power plant will be towed to a small Arctic town called Pevek, according to German broadcaster Deutsche Welle. The floating nuclear power plant, called the Akademik Lomonsov, doesn't have any of its own propulsion hardware, so being slowly towed to its destination is a necessity. The company that built the plant, state-owned Rosatom Corporation, said in a press release that the second stage of the journey, from Murmansk to Pevek, will commence in 2019, with fuel and crew aboard the boat/power plant.

Once the plant reaches Pevek, it will be used to power the 100,000-person town, a desalination plant, and oil rigs. Rosatom says that the Lomonsov is intended to replace the region's Bilibino nuclear power plant, which provides 48 MW of nuclear power and was built in 1974, as well as the Chaunskaya Thermal Power Plant which is now 70 years old. Bilibino was once the northern-most nuclear power plant in the world, but after the Lomonsov is in operation it will inherit that title.

The project has not been without the kinds of delays that nuclear projects seem to inevitably face: in 2015, the Norway-based website Barents Observer wrote that the Lomonsov would be put into service by October 2016.

Aboard the NS Savannah, America’s first (and last) nuclear merchant ship Meanwhile, critics are concerned that a floating nuclear power plant is a situation ripe for disaster if the boat encounters extreme weather. In a statement, Greenpeace nuclear expert Jan Haverkamp cited concerns about the Lomonsov's flat-bottomed hull and its lack of self-propulsion despite the fact that it is intended the be anchored in relatively shallow water.

Rosatom's press release states that "All necessary construction works to create on-shore infrastructure are underway in Pevek. The pier, hydraulic engineering structures, and other buildings, crucial for the mooring of FPU [floating power unit] and operation of a FNPP [floating nuclear power plant] will be ready to use upon Akademik Lomonosov arrival."

A likely reason why Russia would want a floating power plant? The region in which it will be stationed is quite remote, and moving machinery out by land is far more expensive than moving it by sea. Deutsche Welle points out that climate change has made it easier for Russia to use northern sea routes for transportation between the country's west and east.</s>(SKY NEWS) — A controversial floating nuclear power plant made by Russia has headed out for its first sea voyage.

The floating plant, the Akademik Lomonosov, was towed out of the St Petersburg shipyard where it was constructed on Saturday.

It is to be pulled through the Baltic Sea and around the Norwegian coast to Murmansk, a city of 300,000 people, where its reactors are to be loaded with nuclear fuel.</s>Sign up for one of our email newsletters.

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — A floating nuclear power plant built in Russia has embarked on its first sea voyage so its reactors can be loaded with fuel.

The floating plant, the Akademik Lomonosov, was towed on Saturday out of the St. Petersburg shipyard where it was constructed.

It is to be pulled through the Baltic Sea and around the northern tip of Norway to Murmansk in northwest Russia, where the nuclear reactors are to be fueled.

The Lomonosov is to be put into service in 2019 in the Arctic off the coast of Chukotka in the far east, providing power for a port town and for oil rigs.

The project has been widely criticized by environmentalists. Greenpeace has dubbed it a “floating Chernobyl.”</s>Russia launched the world’s first floating nuclear power plant on Saturday. The 70-megawatt vessel, christened the Akademik Lomonosov, was towed away from St. Petersburg by two boats. It is currently coasting through the Baltic Sea to the town of Murmansk for fuel, and is then supposed to embark for the Arctic town of Pevek in 2019, according to a release from the state-run firm that built the rig.

Greenpeace has referred to the vessel as “Chernobyl on ice” and a “nuclear Titanic” bound for catastrophe. The environmental activist group’s nuclear expert Jan Haverkamp says one of the major concerns with the power plant is that it has a flat-bottomed hull—so that it can get close to the shoreline—and it has no self-propulsion, making it more vulnerable to storms.

Greenpeace ran a petition campaign that stopped Russia’s original plan to stock the power plant’s nuclear reactor in St. Petersberg, then send it straight to Pevek. The company that built the vessel, the Rosatom Corporation, decided to instead make an extensive pit stop in Murmansk, so that all the nuclear-related activity will take place in the Arctic, in less populated areas.

But that has done little to assuage the fears of Greenpeace. “Nuclear reactors bobbing around the Arctic Ocean will pose a shockingly obvious threat to a fragile environment which is already under enormous pressure from climate change,” Haverkamp said in a release.



Once the vessel gets to Pevek, it is intended to help power the port town, replacing the 44-year-old Bilibino power plant and the 70-year-old Chaunskaya Thermal Power Plant, according to the release from Rosatom.

Other countries have floated the idea of a natant nuclear plant—namely China and the US.

Construction on the floating power plant first began in 2007, but hit many snags along the way. Rosatom plans to begin building a second floating power plant next year.</s>Akademik Lomonosov, the world's first "floating" nuclear power plant (FNPP) for installation in remote areas, has headed out on its first sea voyage from this Baltic shipyard here, Russian state-run atomic energy corporation Rosatom said on Saturday.

A statement said the FNPP was towed out of the St. Petersburg shipyard where it was constructed for travel to its final destination to the port of Pevek in Russia's extreme northeastern region of Chukotka.

It is to be towed through the Baltic Sea and around the northern tip of Norway to Murmansk, where its reactors will be loaded with nuclear fuel, said Rosatom, who are the equipment suppliers and consultants for the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project in Tamil Nadu.

"Akademik Lomonosov will replace Pevek's aging Bilibino Nuclear Power Plant and Chaunsk coal-fired power plant, saving about 50,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year compared to the current levels. Upon its connection to the grid, Akademik Lomonosov will become the northernmost nuclear installation in the world," it said.

The Lomonosov is expected to be put into service in early 2019.

"It is a significant milestone for our project as well as for the world nuclear industry. Floating nuclear power plants will enable electricity and heat supply to the most remote regions boosting growth and sustainable development," Rosatom Director (Construction and Operation of Floating Nuclear Thermal Power Plants) Vitaly Trutnev said in a statement.

An FNPP is basically a mobile, low-capacity reactor unit operable in remote areas isolated from the main power distribution system, or in places hard to access by land. They are designed to maintain both uninterruptible power and plentiful desalinated water supply in remote areas.

The FNPP has a capacity of 70MW and is equipped with two reactors of 35MW each.

Rosatom said that an FNPP's operational life span is 40 years, with the possibility of being extended up to 50 years.</s>Nuclear plants are dangerous when thing go wrong, and countries have always sought out offshore options to place them away from populated areas. Now Russia is the second one to actually come out and launch a floating nuclear plant ever in history.

It is the only operating off-shore nuclear power plant of its kind once it starts up, too, according to Rosatom's press release. It will also be the first one since the Sturgis floating nuclear power plant used by the US in Panama from 1968 to 1975, as Ars Technica pointed out.

The plant itself left St. Petersburg, Russia on Saturday, April 28, as it heads towards the Baltic Sea towed by two boats. From there it will loop around the northern waters of Norway until finally reaching the Russian town of Murmansk.

At that point, the boats will refuel and then head on to the town of Pevek, where it will reach the seaport roughly by the summer of 2019.

There, the plant will undergo one critical stage on its way to being operational — the dangerous task of loading it with nuclear fuel. It will also be taking on the operating crew at that point as well.

The original plan was to tow the plant around with nuclear fuel already loaded as it leaves St. Petersburg, as Engadget noted. The plan was changed shortly after Greenpeace along with several Baltic countries in the area mounted a protest.

Now, the Academik Lomonosov will be loaded and test-fired in Murmansk instead.

Environmental groups, including Greenpeace, is still not totally onboard the idea, however. They are especially concerned that the floating nuclear plant has no motive power of its own and relies on two ships to move it around.

"Moving the testing of this 'nuclear Titanic' away from the public eye will not make [the testing less irresponsible]," Jan Haverkamp, nuclear expert for Greenpeace, said.

"Nuclear reactors bobbing around the Arctic Ocean will pose a shockingly obvious threat to a fragile environment which is already under enormous pressure from climate change," Haverkamp added.

Indeed, the passage to the north of Norway and the prospect of stationing a floating nuclear power plant in Murmansk were only made possible by climate change, as well. As it is, the floating plant has enough capacity to power a city of around 100,000 residents.

Aside from the environmental impact of adding a power plant to the arctic waters, critics are also concerned that in the case of extreme weather, a disaster could cause a widespread contamination of the area.

Meanwhile, Rosatom is pressing on ahead with preparations of the site. "All necessary construction works to create on-shore infrastructure are underway in Pevek. The pier, hydraulic engineering structures, and other buildings, crucial for the mooring of FPU [floating power unit] and operation of a FNPP [floating nuclear power plant] will be ready to use upon Akademik Lomonosov arrival," the company said in its statement.</s>Russia Launches Floating Nuclear Power Plant; It's Headed To The Arctic

A massive floating nuclear power plant is now making its way toward its final destination at an Arctic port, after Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom launched the controversial craft over the weekend. It's the first nuclear power plant of its kind, Russian officials say.

Called the Akademik Lomonosov, the floating power plant is being towed at a creeping pace out of St. Petersburg, where it was built over the last nine years. It will eventually be brought northward, to Murmansk – where its two nuclear reactors will be loaded with nuclear fuel and started up this fall.

From there, the power plant will be pulled to a mooring berth in the Arctic port of Pevek, in far northeast Russia. There, it will be wired into the infrastructure so it can replace an existing nuclear power installment on land.

Critics of the plan include Greenpeace, which recently warned of a "Chernobyl on ice" if Russia's plans to create a fleet of floating nuclear power stations result in a catastrophe.

Russian officials say the mandate of the Akademik Lomonoso is to supply energy to remote industrial plants and port cities, and to offshore gas and oil platforms.

"The nuclear power plant has two KLT-40S reactor units that can generate up to 70 MW of electric energy and 50 Gcal/hr of heat energy during its normal operation," Rosatom said. "This is enough to keep the activity of the town populated with 100,000 people."

It will take more than a year for the power plant to reach its new home port. The original plan had called for fueling the floating plant before it began that journey, at the shipyard in central St. Petersburg – but that was scuttled last summer, after concerns were raised both in Russia and in countries along the power plant's route through the Baltic Sea and north to the Arctic.

Greenpeace in Russia, for instance, said it collected more than 11,000 signatures against the plan to put nuclear fuel into the plant while it floated along St. Petersburg's shores.

When Rosatom announced its change of plans last summer, Rashid Alimov, coordinator of the Greenpeace Russia anti-nuclear project said that the organization "still considers the very concept of a floating nuclear power plant too dangerous and a senseless technological solution."

Rosatom says it hopes the floating nuclear power plant will be online in 2019. It adds that the power plant "is designed with the great margin of safety that exceeds all possible threats and makes nuclear reactors invincible for tsunamis and other natural disasters."

The idea for an offshore nuclear power plant has also been floated in the U.S. – or more specifically, off of New Jersey's coast. That plan arose in 1969, when the Public Service Electric & Gas Co. of New Jersey wanted to put a nuclear plant in the Atlantic Ocean, some 11 miles northeast of Atlantic City.

To enact that plan, suppliers were lined up, and millions of dollars were spent; a mockup was even built. But popular resistance emerged against it, and as The New Yorker reported in 1975, "More than 50 construction & operating permits were required, & none yet issued."</s>ST. PETERSBURG, Russia -- A floating nuclear power plant built in Russia has embarked on its first sea voyage so its reactors can be loaded with fuel. The floating plant, the Akademik Lomonosov, was towed on Saturday out of the St. Petersburg shipyard where it was constructed. It is to be pulled through the Baltic Sea and around the northern tip of Norway to Murmansk in northwest Russia, where the nuclear reactors are to be fueled.

The Lomonosov is to be put into service in 2019 in the Arctic off the coast of Chukotka in the far east, providing power for a port town and for oil rigs.

The project has been widely criticized by environmentalists. Greenpeace has dubbed it a "floating Chernobyl."

"To test a nuclear reactor in a densely populated area like the centre of St. Petersburg is irresponsible to say the least," Jan Haverkamp, a nuclear expert at Greenpeace, said in a statement.

Haverkamp added: "However, moving the testing of this 'nuclear Titanic' away from the public eye will not make it less so: Nuclear reactors bobbing around the Arctic Ocean will pose a shockingly obvious threat to a fragile environment which is already under enormous pressure from climate change."
Russia’s first floating nuclear power plant, the Akademik Lomonosov, sets sail across the Baltic Sea from St. Petersburg.