Reactor unit No.1 of the world’s only floating power unit (FPU), Akademik Lomonosov, was turned on at 10% of its capacity. The FPU is now moored at the Atomflot site (a Rosatom company) in Murmansk. Technicians completed all necessary preparatory operations and performed all required assessments before the procedure.
Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev said: “This is an important addition to our product portfolio. The floating nuclear power plant is an ideal solution to power remote areas. I am convinced that the growing demand for this product will cement Russia’s leading position in the world’s nuclear technology market.”
‘Power start-up’ is a series of functionality and safety tests conducted on Akademik Lomonosov’s reactor, that are to be completed before connection to the grid. The first stage is implemented at 1-10% of the reactor’s capacity and the final stage at 110%. During each stage, various operation modes are tested in order to ensure the FPU’s safety.
All comprehensive tests and preparatory procedures are expected to be completed at the unique FPU Akademik Lomonosov by March 2019. The FPU will be towed to the port of Pevek (Russia’s northernmost town) in the third quarter of 2019. There, it will operate as part of a floating nuclear power plant, replacing the outgoing capacities of the Bilibino NPP and the Chaunskaya CHPP.
The ‘power start-up’ is a significant milestone in Rosatom’s work on second-generation FPUs, i.e. Optimized Floating Power Units (OFPUs), which will be built in a series and be available for export. Rosatom’s strategy, envisages supplying latest generation floating nuclear power plants to the most promising SMR markets across the globe. So far, significant interest in Rosatom’s FNPP technology has come from the Middle East, North Africa and South-East Asia.
Akademik Lomonosov is the pilot project in a series of transportable small modular power units that are being produced for Rosenergoatom, Rosatom’s subsidiary in charge of operating Russia’s nuclear power plants.