Russia's Rosenergoatom has received an operating licence for its floating nuclear power plant, Akademik Lomonosov, from the country's regulator Rostechnadzor. The facility is 144 metres in length, 30 metres wide and has a displacement of 21,000 tonnes. It has two 35 MWe KLT-40S reactors.

The newly-painted Akademik Lomonosov in Murmansk (Image: Rosenergoatom)

Rosenergoatom, the nuclear power plant operator subsidiary of state nuclear corporation Rosatom, said yesterday it is now entitled to operate the new facility for 10 years, up to 2029.

Andrey Petrov, Rosenergoatom CEO, said obtaining the licence is the pinnacle of many years of hard work. "This gives us the opportunity to start transporting the vessel to the Pevek port in late August, where it will then undergo trials and operational launch as part of the floating nuclear heat and power plant at the end of 2019," he added.

The floating power unit is scheduled to be transferred from the Baltic Shipyard to Rosenergoatom by the end of this month, with connection to the Chukotenergo power grid and the city's heat networks expected to be completed by year-end. The plant will eventually replace the withdrawn generating capacities of the Chaunskaya combined heat and power plant in the city of Pevek and the Bilibino nuclear power plant in the city of Bilibino.

"As the floating plant is going to be located in Pevek, it will boost the social and economic development of the Chaun municipal district specifically and Chukotka in general, Rosenergoatom said. In addition, it will become one of the key infrastructure elements within the Northern Sea Route development programme," the company said.