Russia's world first floating nuclear power station on Saturday completed a 5,000-kilometer (3,100-mile) Arctic transfer to the country's far east, the Rosatom nuclear agency said. "The Akademik Lomonosov floating nuclear plant arrived ... at Pevek, in the autonomous district of Chukotka," where it is to start operating by year end once connected to the local electricity grid, it will become the world's first operational nuclear power plant based on small modular reactors (SMRs) technology, Rosatom said. The Akademik Lomonosov is to provide energy for around 100,000 people and also power oil platforms as Russia develops extraction of natural resources in a mineral-rich area whose eastern tip is a few dozen kilometers from Alaska."It's maybe one small step for sustainable development in the Arctic, but it's a giant leap for the decarbonisation of remote off-grid areas, and a watershed in the development of small modular nuclear power plants in the world", Rosatom's CEO Alexey Likhachev said. The project has been welcomed by scientists, nuclear energy experts and environmentalists across the world. "To meet the nuclear industry's Harmony goal of supplying at least 25% of the world's electricity by 2050 we will need to bring the benefits of nuclear energy to more people in a wider range of locations. The Akademik Lomonosov is the first of a new class of small, mobile and versatile nuclear power plant that will supply clean and reliable electricity, heat and water, helping meet the UN's sustainable development goals", Agneta Rising, Director General of the World Nuclear Association said. Akademik Lomonosov is a pilot project and a ‘working prototype' for a future fleet of floating nuclear power plants and on-shore installations based on Russian-made small modular reactors. The small power units will be available for deployment to hard-to-reach areas of the Russia's north and Far-East, as well as for export, Rising added. The total cost of the Pevek installation will not be disclosed until the project is complete but Rosatom's spokesman said the technology is strongly competitive. "Once we begin to manufacture small reactors in series, SMR-based plants for remote areas have a good chance to produce electricity cheaper than diesel, saving money and preventing harmful emissions".
