Russia's 1st sea-borne nuclear power plant arrives in the Arctic [View all]

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Nuclear company says it could pioneer power source for remote areas, Greenpeace calls it 'nuclear Titanic'

Russia's first floating nuclear power plant arrived in the Arctic port of Murmansk over the weekend in preparation for its maiden mission: providing electricity to an isolated Russian town across the Bering Strait from Alaska.

The state company behind the plant, called the Akademik Lomonosov, says it could pioneer a new power source for remote regions of the planet, but green campaigners have expressed concern about the risk of nuclear accidents. Greenpeace has called it the "nuclear Titanic".

Russian state nuclear company Rosatom, which developed the floating power plant, said that it docked the unit in Murmansk on Saturday where it was towed from St. Petersburg, the city where it was built.

Nuclear reactors bobbing around the Arctic Ocean will pose a shockingly obvious threat to a fragile environment.
- Jan Haverkamp, nuclear expert

In Murmansk it will take on board a supply of nuclear fuel. It will then be towed to the town of Pevek in the Far East region of Chukotka, separated from the U.S. state of Alaska by the Bering Strait. It will start operations there next year.


Much more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/russia-floating-nuclear-power-plant-1.4673054



The Akademik Lomonosov is to be loaded with nuclear fuel in Murmansk, then towed to position in the Far East in 2019. (Dimitri Lovetsky/The Associated Press)