MOSCOW, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- RIA Novosti reported that Russia's Federal Nuclear Energy Agency has decided to construct a low capacity floating nuclear power plant.
The proposed FNPP will generate roughly 1/150th of the power produced by a standard Russian VVER-1000 water-cooled reactor nuclear power plant.
Construction slated to begin next year.
The FNPP will be moored off Severodvinsk in the Arkhangelsk region in northern Russia in the White Sea near the Sevmash plant. The Sevmash facility is the major construction site of the State Nuclear Shipbuilding Center.
The floating FNPP will contain two KLT-40S reactors, allowing Sevmash to fulfill its energy requirements for 5-6 cents per kilowatt. As byproducts, the FNPP will also be able to generate heat and desalinate seawater. General director of the public joint-stock company Malaya Energetika Evgeny Kuzin said, "If conditions are favorable, the floating plant could be operational in four to five years' time" should $200,000 in funding be found. Kuzin hopes that FNPPs would be deployed along Russian regions adjoining the Arctic Ocean. Kuzin also sees potential for exporting FNPPs. Indonesia, Malaysia, and China have all shown interest in the project.
The FNPP will be able to supply energy to a town of 200,000, while if the FNPP's capacity is switched over to desalinization, it could produce 314,000 cubic yards of fresh water a day. Kuzin noted that potential terrorist threats were considered in the design of the FNPP's security system, which incorporates fingerprint and iris identification technology.
