Michele Kearney's Nuclear Wire

Major Energy and Environmental News and Commentary affecting the Nuclear Industry.

Monday, June 9, 2014

Construction begins on new 70 MW floating Merchant Marine nuclear power plant ship. Portable global nuclear power plant is off the drawing board.

Construction begins on new 70 MW floating Merchant Marine nuclear power plant ship. Portable global nuclear power plant is off the drawing board.


Russia to work with China on floating nuclear power plant

Concept art of the Akademik Lomonosov, the Russian floating nuclear power plant under construction in Saint Petersburg. (Internet photo)
President Vladimir Putin of Russia signed a contract with President Xi Jinping of China for the two nations to build a floating nuclear power plant during his visit to Shanghai earlier this month, according to the Moscow-based Voice of Russia.
Russia is currently constructing the world's first floating nuclear power plant named the Akademik Lomonosov in Saint Petersburg. Powered by two KLT-40C naval propulsion reactors, the Akademik Lomonosov will be able to provide up to 70 MW of electricity or 300 MW of heat. After it is completed, it is likely to enter service in the city of Pevek.
China has been able to produce nuclear-powered submarines but not a reactor sufficient to power an aircraft carrier. China's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, is retrofitted from a former Soviet-era conventionally powered carrier purchased from Ukraine which is also set to be the blueprint for the country's first two domestically built carriers. Vasiliy Kashin from the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies based in Moscow suggested however that developing a floating nuclear power plant jointly with Russia will give China the experience it needs to build a nuclear-powered carrier in the future.
Huang Dong, a military expert from Macau, said building a nuclear-powered submarine is a totally different proposition to building a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. The displacement of a submarine may be no greater than 10,000 tonnes while that of an aircraft carrier is usually 100,000 tonnes, Huang said.
The Hong Kong-based Ta Kung Pao suggested Russia is unlikely to transfer such technology to China for military use, however. The report pointed out that the floating nuclear plant is designed primarily for civilian use and this is the only program in which Putin is willing to cooperate with China.
Please see link below:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=newssearch&cd=7&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CD0QqQIoADAG&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wantchinatimes.com%2Fnews-subclass-cnt.aspx%3Fcid%3D1101%26MainCatID%3D11%26id%3D20140529000110&ei=_UmHU-aJN5OlsQSXl4GgDw&usg=AFQjCNFZNqRuqYTd0DNW7akC6Ywi56IN_Q

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