 Akademik Lomonosov being transported from Murmansk, August 2019 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Name | Akademik Lomonosov |
| Namesake | Mikhail Lomonosov |
| Owner | Rosatom |
| Port of registry | 2019 onwards:Saint Petersburg, Russia |
| Builder |
|
| Cost | 37.3 billion rubles (2015)[1] (414 million dollars in 2024) |
| Yard number | 05710 |
| Laid down | 15 April 2007 |
| Launched | 30 June 2010[2] |
| Completed | 2018 |
| Acquired | 4 July 2019 |
| In service | 22 May 2020 |
| Identification |
|
| Status | In service |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | nuclearpowership (barge) |
| Displacement | 21,500 tonnes |
| Length | 144.4 m (474 ft) |
| Beam | 30 m (98 ft) |
| Height | 10 m (33 ft) |
| Draft | 5.6 m (18 ft) |
| Crew | 69 |
| Notes | 2 modifiedKLT-40S nuclear reactors (icebreaker type) producing 35x2 MW electric or 150x2 MW thermal |
Akademik Lomonosov (Russian:Академик Ломоносов) is a non-self-propelledpower barge that operates as the firstRussian floating nuclear power station. The ship was named afteracademicianMikhail Lomonosov. It is docked in thePevek harbour, providing heat to the town and supplying electricity to the regional Chaun-Bilibino power system. It is the world’s northernmost nuclear power plant.[3]
Construction started at theSevmash Submarine-Building Plant inSeverodvinsk. The keel ofAkademik Lomonosov was laid on 15 April 2007 and completion was initially planned in May 2010.[4] The celebrations were attended by the first deputyprime minister of Russia,Sergei Ivanov, and by the head of Rosatom,Sergei Kiriyenko.[5]
In August 2008, the Russian government approved the transfer of work fromSevmash to theBaltic Shipyard (Baltiysky Zavod) inSaint Petersburg.[4] A second keel-laying was done at the new shipyard in May 2009.[6]Akademik Lomonosov was launched on 30 June 2010.[7] The first reactor, a KLT-40S design byOKBM Afrikantov, was delivered in May 2009 and the second one in August 2009 by AtomEnergoProekt (NN-AEP).[8] They were installed in October 2013.[9]
Originally,Akademik Lomonosov was supposed to supply power to the Sevmash shipyard itself and the town of Severodvinsk, located inArkhangelsk Oblast in Northwest Russia.[8] It was decided later to deploy the power barge atPevek, in theChukotka region in Russia's Far East.It was expected to be delivered in 2019, and to replace the nearbyBilibino Nuclear Power Plant, which was at the end of its service life.[6]
On 28 April 2018, it left St. Petersburg under tow forMurmansk, where it received nuclear fuel for the first time. On 17 May 2018, it arrived at Murmansk.[10] TheAkademik Lomonosov power station was handed over to the Russian state nuclear power company on 4 July 2019.[11] The 5,000 km (3100 mi) towing operation through the Arctic Ocean by icebreakerDikson began on 23 August 2019.[12]
On 9 September 2019, it arrived at its permanent location in the Chukotka district, the far eastern end of the Far East region.[13] It started operation on 19 December 2019.[14] On 22 May 2020, the plant had been fully commissioned. By that date it had delivered 47.3 GWh ofzero-emissions electric energy, covering 20% of demand in the region.[15] On 30 June 2020 it started to supply thermal power to Pevek.[16] By January 2025, the plant had delivered 1000 GWh, providing 60% of the energy for the region.[17]
Initially, estimated costs were 6 billion rubles ($232 million).[4] Calculations in 2015 totalled 37 billion rubles ($700 million), including infrastructure reinforcements in Pevek.[18]
Akademik Lomonosov has a length of 144 metres (472 ft) and width of 30 metres (98 ft). It has a displacement of 21,500 tonnes and a crew of 69 people.[19] It will have a crew of about 300 people.[20]For power generation, it has twoKLT-40S reactors, derived from icebreaker propulsion reactors, which together provide thermal reactor power of 300 MW, which is transformed in two turbo-generating sets into 70 MW of electricity (gross).[21]
The reactors uselow-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel, with 14.1% average enrichment, with afuel cycle of 3 years.[21] TheAkademik Lomonosov can work ascogeneration plant, as waste heat is collected. She can provide up to 60 MW thermal power via clamped pipelines for heating purposes. Peak heat delivery is up to 170 MW while reducing the electric output to 30 MW (cf.extraction steam turbine).[22] Anotherjoint product is up to 240,000 m3/d freshwatermade from seawater.[23]
The reactors were designed byOKBM Afrikantov and assembled by Nizhniy Novgorod Research and Development Institute Atomenergoproekt, both part ofAtomenergoprom. The reactor vessels were produced byIzhorskiye Zavody.[8] The turbo-generators were supplied byKaluga Turbine Plant.[4]
| Unit[24] | type & model | el. power (net) | el. power (gross) | thermal power | construction start | first grid connection | commercial operation | references |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Akademik Lomonosov 1 | PWR /KLT-40S | 32 MW | 35 MW | 150 MW | 2007-04-15 | 2019-12-19 | 2020-05-22 | [25] |
| Akademik Lomonosov 2 | PWR / KLT-40S | 32 MW | 35 MW | 150 MW | 2007-04-15 | 2019-12-19 | 2020-05-22 | [26] |
Rosatom states that thePWR reactor technology used in the power plant has nothing in common with the oldRBMK reactor design in Chernobyl and is designed to shut down automatically without external power and human intervention in case of emergency. The design incorporates all the state-of-the-art safeguards as documented inIAEA INSAG-3 recommendation and Russian civilian reactors had not a single accident leading to a radioactive leak in 34 years.[27][20]
Costs for the Akademik Lomonosov, Russia's flagship floating nuclear power plant, have reportedly mushroomed to 37 billion rubles ($700 million), an increase of more than 300% from the original 2006 estimate of nine billion rubles ($170 million).
In the maximum heat output mode, which is about 145 Gcal/h, the electric energy supplied to the onshore grid is about 30 MW.
It can also be converted into a desalination plant with a capacity to produce 240,000 cubic metres of fresh water each day.
69°42′35″N170°18′22″E / 69.7097°N 170.3061°E /69.7097; 170.3061
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