Russia to build floating nuclear power plants for remote regions

Jun 14, 2006, 13:46 GMT

Moscow - Russia is planning to construct unique floating nuclear power plants for providing electricity and heating to remote regions, according to a report by Itar-Tass Wednesday.

Nuclear power company Rosenergoatom and the naval shipyard Sevmash in Severodvinsk in the north-west of the country had signed a contract for the first plant valued at 9.1 billion rubles (336 million dollars) on Wednesday, the agency said.

According to the report, the floating nuclear plant will be put to use from 2010 in sparsely-populated regions on Siberia's northern coast, on the Kamchatka Peninsula and in Russia's far eastern regions, where there is currently no electricity supply.

Construction of the first reactor is to begin next year.

Two small reactors with a total output of 70 Megawatts would be constructed on a platform 140 metres long with a displacement of 21,000 tons, the report said.

In general, standard nuclear power plants put out 1,000 Megawatts.

The generators will also be able to deliver heating up to a distance of 300 kilometres.

The first mini-power plant is intended to provide electricity to the Sevmash shipbuilding yard as a pilot project.

According to the report, the new plants will have a lifespan of 40 years and should pay off the cost of construction within 12 years.

The fuel elements will be changed every two to three years.