While Romania is deluding itself that it will be the country with the world’s first mini-nuclear reactor (SMR Doicești), Russia and China are commissioning and exploiting the technology, risking leaving the Western bureaucratic world behind. In a few days, we will celebrate the 4th anniversary of the commissioning of the world’s first civil-sector SMR. Next, we present his story.

SMRs (small modular reactors) are small modular reactors that use nuclear fission to produce energy. They are smaller than conventional nuclear reactors. The technology involves the construction of reactors at a specific location (for example, a factory), after which the reactor can be delivered, assembled and put into operation in any area that meets the safety requirements for small nuclear power plants.

The world’s first SMR – floating nuclear cogeneration plant “Akademik Lomonosov” with a capacity of 70 MW operates in the city of Vilyuchinsk, Kamchatka Territory, Far East of Russia. The reactor was named after the famous academician Mykhailo Lomonosov (chemist, writer, poet, physicist, artist, geographer, historian, cultural figure and statesman 1711-1765). The owner of the nuclear power plant is the state atomic energy corporation “Rosatom”.

The project of this SMR began in 2000, when the Ministry of Atomic Energy of the Russian Federation (Rosatom) selected the site for the construction of this SMR. Severodvinsk in the Arkhangelsk region was chosen as the site for construction. The construction of the barge, on which the world’s first SMR is located, began on April 15, 2007 and was initially carried out at the Sevmash submarine construction plant in Severodvinsk. In August 2008, the ship repair plant was transferred from Sevmash to the Baltic Shipyard in St. Petersburg. “Akademik Lomonosov” was launched on June 30, 2010. This is the world’s first floating nuclear power plant, which was supposed to have a civilian application. Two nuclear reactors were installed on the barge in October 2013.

The floating power plant arrived in Murmansk, Russia to receive nuclear fuel for the first time in May 2018, and refueling of the two reactors was completed by October 2018.

In December 2018, the unit was commissioned at 10% capacity with specific tests that went well

In June 2019, Rosenergoatom, a subsidiary of Rosatom, received a license from the Federal Service for Environmental, Industrial and Atomic Supervision (Rostekhnadlyad) to operate FLOAT for ten years – until 2029.

“Akademik Lomonosov” arrived for permanent deployment in the port of Pevek in Chukotka in September 2019. It started generating electricity and was connected to the Chaun-Bilibino isolated grid in December 2019. The floating power plant was fully commissioned in May 2020. produces heat and electricity for about 200,000 people. Life expectancy is estimated at 40 years.

Features of the world’s first SMR – a floating power plant in Chukotka, Russia

Barge “Akademik Lomonosov” is a unit that was designed as a non-self-propelled vessel. It is 140 m long, 30 m wide and 10 m high. It has a draft of 5.56 m, weighs 21,500 tons and has a crew of 70 people.

The floating vessel contains two 35MW KLT-40C nuclear reactors capable of producing 70MW of electricity and 300MW of heat. Desalination plants with a production capacity of 240,000 m³ of fresh water per day have also been installed.

The project includes offshore and onshore facilities to transmit the energy and power generated from the SMR to the consumers it is intended to serve.

Electricity and heat generated by offshore installations are transferred to land, while land-based facilities transfer heat and electricity to the onshore grid. This plant replaces burning 200,000 tons of coal and 100,000 tons of fuel oil per year to produce equivalent energy.

A naval vessel houses reactors, steam turbines, and storage facilities that store fresh and nuclear fuel assemblies, as well as solid and liquid radioactive waste.

The SMR is expected to undergo maintenance at the Baltic Shipyard every 12 years and refuel every three years.

Reactor of Akademik Lomonosov NPP

The KLT-40C is a modular water-cooled reactor that functions as a steam generating station. A reactor consists of the reactor itself, steam generators, reactor cooling pumps, heat exchangers, compressors, valves and pipes used for various purposes.

The reactors were delivered in May 2009, the first and second in August 2009. Each reactor is enclosed in a sealed steel container that can withstand pressure.

Nuclear waste is carefully placed to avoid radiation during production and power generation.

Equipment used in Academician Lomonosov’s SMR

The electrical equipment enterprise OKBM Afrikantov was responsible for designing reactors, manufacturing and supplying pumps, equipment for transporting fuel and auxiliary equipment. Installation of reactors at the power plant was carried out by the Nizhny Novgorod Scientific Research Institute.

The reactor housings were supplied by the Russian machine-building enterprise “Izhorski Zavody”.

Kaluga Turbine Plant supplied turbine generators for the plant, and nuclear fuel producer TVEL supplied nuclear fuel for the plant.

A total of 136 companies were involved as main and subcontractors in the design and production of the plant. The cost of this SMR was $232 million.

Security systems

KLT-40S safety systems are developed in accordance with the reactor project, and include: sequential physical protection and isolation systems, active and passive safety systems with self-activation, automatic self-diagnosis systems, reliable diagnostics of the state of equipment and systems, and established methods of combating an accident. In addition, on-board safety systems work independently of the plant’s power supply.

Local impact on the environment

The main concern was that the ship would not produce such an amount of radioactive vapor that it could have a negative impact on nearby settlements. Seismic activity is also often observed in the Kamchatka region, where Academician Lomonsov is stationed. A tsunami triggered by an earthquake could destroy a nuclear power plant on land and release radioactive material and fuel from nuclear waste, the same could not happen to a floating terminal, which is much safer.

N.Red: HotNews.ro recently made a video report about Deutschesti, a commune in Dambovica County, where the first nuclear mini-reactors based on American technology are planned to be built, which you can watch here: