Nuclear power is often praised for its low-carbon emissions as a way of slowing climate change being fed by the use of fossil fuels worldwide. I have blogged before about the overlap between radioactive contamination and oil drilling. There are filters like huge socks that capture naturally occurring radioactive materials brought up from fracking wells. Disposal of these radioactive filters is causing a major problem in North Dakota. There is overlap between oil drilling and nuclear power being planned for the Arctic.
Russia is working on the development of floating nuclear reactors that could provide power for ports, industries and offshore oil and gas drilling in the Arctic. The first Russia floating reactor design is called the Akademik Lomonosov. It will be about four hundred and fifty feet long and will be able to produce seventy megawatts of electricity. The current design will have to be towed because it has no engines for propulsion. Future designs are being planned that will have independent mobility. The small floating reactors will be carried on icebreaking hulls so they will be able to plow through ice on the Arctic Ocean. Once the prototype has been developed and tested, the plan is to mass produce these floating reactors.
Russia began construction of the Akademik Lomonosov in 2007 but there have been delays that have put the project behind schedule. Now Russia hopes to have an operational floating reactor by 2016. This first reactor will be used to power Pevek, a town on the coast of the East Siberian Sea. They will dock the reactor near the town and run a cable to the town's power grid.
Rosatom, the Russian government owned nuclear consortium has announced that fifteen countries have expressed interest in purchasing Russian floating nuclear power reactors. China, Algeria, Indonesia, Malaysia and Argentina have been mentioned as potential customers. Last year, Russia and China signed an agreement to cooperate in the construction of one of these floating nuclear power plants.
A Canadian company named Dunedin Energy Systems is also working on small floating nuclear reactors which could provide energy for remote mining projects in Canada's Arctic region. The company's president points out that floating nuclear power reactors have been in use for decades to power nuclear vessels. This may be true, but these reactors are special rugged designs built to cope with turbulent ocean conditions and potential combat damage. They are built by national militaries and are very expensive. Nuclear reactors for commercial vessels have never caught on.
I am concerned that these small floating nuclear reactors may not be held to the high construction and regulatory standards of military vessel reactors. The Russians have already polluted the Barents Sea near their border with Norway by sinking nuclear reactors for disposal. Now the radioactive pollution is threatening Norwegian fishing grounds. The Arctic ocean is a harsh environment. There have already been problems with drilling rigs being damaged by storms. I think that have floating nuclear reactors in the Arctic ocean is a very bad idea and could lead to serious nuclear accidents.
Artist's concept of the Akademik Lomonosov:
