Russia's floating nuclear power plant prepares for first refuelling

Russia’s first floating nuclear power plant, Akademik Lomonosov, is due for its first refuelling by the end of the year. Fresh nuclear fuel from TVEL has already arrived in Pevek, in the Chukotka region, where the plant is moored. The plant, commissioned in May 2020, has two reactors and supplies the region with heat as well as electricity.

Russia’s Rosatom announced that its subsidiary TVEL had delivered new nuclear fuel for the Akademik Lomonosov floating nuclear power plant. The plant, which was commissioned in May 2020, is set to undergo its first-ever refuelling by the end of the year.

“Unlike conventional large land-based reactors, which require partial replacement of their fuel rods every 12-18 months, these reactors are refuelled once every several years. This involves unloading the entire reactor core and loading fresh fuel,” the company said in a press release.

The floating plant has two KLT-40S reactors, based on reactors used in nuclear icebreakers. The current refuelling involves only one of the reactors; Rosatom plans to replace the fuel in the other in 2024. The plant is 144 metres long, 30 metres wide and has a displacement of 21,000 tonnes.

The northernmost nuclear power plant

Akademik Lomonosov is moored in Russia’s northernmost city, Pevek, in the Chukotka region, which has a population of 4,000. According to Rosatom, the two reactors, each with an electrical capacity of 35 MW, could supply electricity to a city of 100,000 people. The plant also supplies heat, with a maximum output of 44 MW.

“Experience from operating the floating plant provided the basis for reactor designs for the latest 22220-series nuclear icebreakers. Three such icebreakers have already been commissioned,” Rosatom added.

The new floating plant has replaced the decommissioned units at the Bilibino nuclear power plant and the Chaunskaya coal-fired power plant, which has been operating for more than 70 years.