The Akademik Lomonosov will have an electricity generating capacity of 70 megawatts

Nov 4, 2013 20:41 GMT  ·  By
The world's first floating nuclear plant expected to be up and running by 2019
   The world's first floating nuclear plant expected to be up and running by 2019

Recent news from Russia says that, should things go according to plan, the world's first floating nuclear plant, the Akademik Lomonosov, will be up and running by 2019 at the latest.

The plant is currently being developed by shipping corporation LLC Baltiysky Zavod Shipbuilding and state nuclear power company Rosenergoatom.

Once completed, it will measure about 472 feet (nearly 144 meters) from head to tail, and will weigh an impressive 21,000 tons.

To keep online, it will require a crew of 69 workers, its manufacturers explain.

Interestingly enough, the nuclear plant will not look like a platform but, as shown in the picture next to this article, a run-off-the-mill ship.

Inhabitat tells us that the Akademik Lomonosov will pack two small nuclear KLT-40 naval propulsion reactors, whose combined electricity generating capacity will be one of 70,000 megawatts.

By the looks of it, this electricity output will be more than enough to meet the demands of the people living in the town of Severodvinsk, and keep the local Sevmash Submarine-Building plant, where the ship is being built, online.

Apart from producing electricity, the plant is expected to generate heat, and also produce enough desalinated water to provide for some 200,000 people, the same source details.

In light of the recent incidents reported at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan, some might argue that rolling out a floating such facility is anything but a good idea.

However, manufacturers LLC Baltiysky Zavod Shipbuilding and Rosenergoatom argue that the plant will be well equipped to deal with harsh environmental conditions, and that the chances of a major nuclear disaster such as the one that took place at Fukushima back in March 2011 are slim to none.

What's more, the plant will run on lightly enriched uranium, meaning that concerns that somebody could turn it into a nuclear weapon are also unfounded.