As construction of the world’s first floating nuclear power plant continues in St. Petersburg, experts say such facilities are mobile and are mainly assigned for ensuring power supplies to remote regions. However, they note that the cost of their construction is too high and should be reduced in the future if serial production is launched. Floating nuclear power plants could also be exported and used as seawater desalination units, with interest in the facilities already being shown by a number of Asian countries.

Construction of the world’s first floating nuclear power plant started in Russia in April 2007 at the Sevmash shipyard in the city of Severodvinsk, Arkhangel’sk region. In August 2008, Russian nuclear power producer Rosenergoatom Concern, a unit of nuclear power corporation Rosatom, transferred the construction work to St. Petersburg-based shipyard Baltiysky Zavod, saying that Sevmash has too many orders and needs to focus on fulfilling the government order.

The floating nuclear power plant named Academician Lomonosov is to consist of a power unit comprising two 35-megawatt (MW) KLT-40C reactors, coastal installations assigned for transmitting electric and thermal power to external grids, and hydraulic structures. The power plant will be operational for 38-40 years. It is expected that the facility will be delivered to Russia’s Ship Repairing Center Zvyozdochka every 12 years of its operation for fuel reloading and repairs.

The power unit of the floating plant was set afloat in June 2010 and is expected to be delivered to Rosenergoatom in late 2012, while the launch of the plant into operation is scheduled for 2014. The plant is expected to operate in the Far North and the Far East.

Floating nuclear power plants are mainly assigned for the production of electric and thermal power for the population and industrial enterprises in remote regions, where construction of power transmission lines is not profitable or even possible, mainly in Russia’s Far North and Far East, and could also be used as seawater desalination units and during the devel-opment of oil and gas fields.

Rosatom has announced plans to build a total of 10 floating nuclear plants in Russia. In the future, it plans to build such facilities in the Kamchatka region, the Chukotka Autonomous District, the constituent republic of Sakha (Yakutia), the Krasnoyarsk region, and the Primorsky region.

The mobility, as well as the possibility of a quick launch, ensuring power supplies to isolated regions, and the low price of power are the main advantages of floating nuclear power plants, said Vasily Konuzin, head of an analytical department at A’lemar Investment Group. He said it was not reasonable to ship tankers with electric power from the Sakhalin region to the Kamchatka region.

“Floating nuclear power plants belong to the power industry of low and medium capacity. The main idea is to use them in remote regions, where other types of power are not available,” said Andrei Cherkasenko, general director of Atompromresursy group of companies, a private company supplying materials and providing engineering services to nuclear fuel cycle companies.

Outlining the disadvantages of floating nuclear power plants, Konuzin said that the high cost of construction and a relatively low capacity were their main weaknesses. “The cost of construction of floating nuclear plants is significantly higher than the cost of building traditional nuclear plants,” Konuzin said. Specifically, construction of a traditional nuclear power unit with a capacity of 1 000 MW amounts to U.S. $3 billion-$4 billion (or about 95 billion-127 billion roubles). The cost of the floating nuclear plant currently under construction was initially expected at around 9 billion roubles. In June 2010, when the power unit was set afloat, Rosatom CEO Sergei Kiriyenko said that the cost of the first power unit amounted to 16.5 billion roubles. “The cost of the pilot project is constantly increasing and it is not clear yet what the final cost will be,” said Cherkasenko from Atompromresursy. The analysts underlined this sum was being spent on building only 70 MW of capacities.

Both analysts admitted that this was only a pilot project and it was difficult to forecast its cost from the very beginning. Moreover, Rosatom had to change the shipyard during the implementation of the project, which could also affect the price, Cherkasenko said.

Kiriyenko said earlier that Rosatom planned to build floating nuclear plants with a capacity of 300 MW-400 MW in the future. The cost of construction of floating nuclear plants is expected to be reduced and the period of construction is expected to be smaller, he also said.

“This is only a pilot project and the technology is only being worked out,” said Konuzin from A’lemar. If commercial production starts, with around 10 floating plants built in Russia, then the cost of construction of such plants should be significantly reduced, he said, adding that expenditures should be reduced to the level of spending on traditional nuclear plants. “In this case construction of floating nuclear plants will become reasonable. Now it is only ambitions and science,” Konuzin said. The cost of building 70 MW of capacities should be at least 6 billion-7 billion roubles, the analyst said.

Cherkasenko from Atompromresursy said it was necessary to have a total of 10 floating nuclear power plants in Russia to make their exploitation reasonable. If serial production is launched, the price of these projects is expected to fall, he said. Besides construction of floating plants, it is also necessary to set up production of fuel for them, build storage facilities, adjacent infrastructure, safety systems, and prepare specialists. Only when all these processes are implemented together, will the construction of floating nuclear power plants be profitable, the expert said.

Floating nuclear plants are expected to be in demand mainly in the Russian Far North, but could be also earmarked for exports and used abroad as seawater desalination units.

“Floating nuclear power plants could be exported to countries of the Persian Gulf with the aim of seawater desalination,” said Konuzin from A’lemar, adding that there was also interest from Arab coutries. Island states and countries which have problems with desalination could be interested in floating nuclear plants, he added. However, the analyst noted that the price of floating nuclear plant projects remained the main issue and no country would agree to pay

$8 000 per kilowatt when it is possible to build desalination units and traditional nuclear plants with this money.

Indonesia, which has around 18 000 islands that are isolated from power supplies, earlier showed interest in floating nuclear plants, Cherkasenko from Atompromresursy said, adding that Vietnam and China could also be interested. The expert, however, said that a number of countries could refuse to buy floating nuclear plants because of the high price.

Besides the price of floating nuclear plant projects, the safety of these facilities also raises concerns. Kiriyenko said earlier that floating nuclear power plants were much safer than land-based nuclear plants, as they have several levels of security. Rosatom claimed earlier that tsunami and earthquakes did not pose a threat to floating nuclear power plants.

Rosatom is complying with all safety requirements while building its nuclear power plants, and the floating nuclear plant project should not be an exception, according to Konuzin from A’lemar, who added that in this project safety requirements should be increased. Rosatom’s land-based plants are capable of withstanding serious catastrophes, he also said.

“There is currently an overall skeptical attitude to the nuclear power industry in the world,” said Cherkasenko from Atompromresursy. “Resistance of floating plants to natural disasters, terrorist attacks, and radiation safety are certainly in doubt,” he said.

Rosenergoatom recently became concerned about the implementation of the floating nuclear plant project because its advance payments made to Baltiysky Zavod were frozen in accounts of now-bankrupt International Industrial Bank, or Mezhprombank, which is included into United Industrial Corporation along with the shipyard. In late July, the Arbitration Court for St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region seized the plant at the request of Rosenergoatom, which said that Baltiysky Zavod was in a difficult financial situation and its property could later be seized under other court proceedings. Rosenergoatom also filed a suit seeking the declaration of its proprietary rights to the floating nuclear power plant. Meanwhile, Baltiysky Zavod claimed it had not received any payments from Rosenergoatom in 2011 and was financing the project with its own funds. It also filed a lawsuit seeking to contest the seizure of the floating nuclear plant.

At present, Baltiysky Zavod, along with other shipbuilding assets of the United Industrial Corporation, is being used as a pledge on the Central Bank of Russia’s (CBR) 32 billion ruble loan provided earlier to Mezhprombank.

Rosenergoatom said in mid-September it was ready to provide loans to Baltiysky Zavod in order that it continues building the floating nuclear power plant.

Analysts believe the project will be implemented despite the mentioned difficulties. Baltiysky Zavod is one of key participants of the floating nuclear plant project, said Konuzin from A’lemar. Rosatom is likely to provide financial support to the shipyard, but this could lead to some delays in the project implementation, the analyst said.