The Russian "Academik Lomonosov", the world's first floating nuclear power plant, passes Langeland island, while heading for Murmansk in northwestern Russia, in Denmark, May 4, 2018. (REUTERS)

Have you ever imagined a nuclear power plant that floats on water like a regular boat? Whether you imagined or not, the world is no longer a place for the things to stay in imaginations anyway. Russia's state-run Atomic Energy Corporation, ROSATOM developed the 'Akademik Lomonosov' worlds first floating nuclear power plant (FNPP).

World's first 'floating' nuclear power plant (FNPP)

The FNPP was designed to make it possible to supply electricity to hard-to-reach areas, regardless of transport infrastructure, landscape, and cost of fuel delivery. The reactor has the potential to work particularly well in regions with extended coastlines, power supply shortages, and limited access to electrical grids.

Akademik Lomonosov -- the first ship of this kind -- was named for 18th-century Russian scientist Mikhail Lomonosov

The nuclear floating unit is equipped with two KLT-40C reactor systems similar to those used on icebreakers

The vessel is 144 metres long and 30 metres wide

It has a displacement of 21,000 tonnes

The lifecycle of the FNPP is 40 years with the possibility of being extended to up to 50 years

After decommissioning, the unit will be towed to a special deconstruction and recycling facility

No spent nuclear fuel or radioactive waste will be left behind as it will be taken to the special storage facilities

Why a nuclear power plant needs to be floating on water

For fossil fuel-based electricity generation, up to 40 per cent of the cost is attributed to the price of coal, oil or gas, as well as to the cost of their delivery. This figure is even higher for especially remote locations.

The floating nuclear power plant, the 'Akademik Lomonosov', is towed out of the St. Petersburg shipyard where it was constructed in St.Petersburg, Russia, Saturday, April 28, 2018. (Image: AP)

The small size, lightweight, and fixed cost of the FNPP eliminate many such challenges. The small nuclear reactor can operate non-stop without the need for refuelling for three to five years, thereby considerably reducing the cost of electricity generation.

Criticism by Greenpeace: 'Nuclear Titanic'

Greenpeace has referred to the vessel as "Chernobyl on ice" and a "nuclear Titanic" bound for catastrophe.

Chernobyl disaster: The 1986 Chernobyl disaster was a catastrophic nuclear accident that occurred on April 26, 1986, at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine.

A test to find out what would happen if the reactor lost most of its power supply, went horribly wrong and consequently, an explosion and fire released large quantities of radioactive particles into the atmosphere, which spread over much of the western USSR and Europe.

As many as 31 people died during the accident itself and long-term effects such as cancers are still being investigated

The environmental activist group's nuclear expert Jan Haverkamp says that one of the major concerns with the power plant is that it has a flat-bottomed hull so that it can get close to the shoreline and it has no self-propulsion, making it more vulnerable to storms.

The chernobyl reactor after the explosion, april 26, 1986. (Getty Images)

The efforts of Greenpeace compelled Russia to change its plan to stock the power plant in St Petersburg and sending it to Pevek. It is now scheduled to make an extensive pit stop in Murmansk, so that all the nuclear-related activity will take place in the Arctic, in less populated areas.

But Greenpeace is not happy about it either. Haverkamp said in a statement:

Nuclear reactors bobbing around the Arctic Ocean will pose a shockingly obvious threat to a fragile environment which is already under enormous pressure from climate change.

Also read: 6 worst nuclear explosions in the history of earth

The second generation of floating power units

ROSATOM is already working on the second generation Floating Power Units, or Optimized Floating Power Units (OFPUs), which will be equipped with two RITM (Rhythmn) - 200M reactors (each with a capacity of 50 MW). In addition to having a greater power capacity, OFPUs will be smaller than the predecessor.

Floating Nuclear Power Unit (FNPU) on the move

The Floating Nuclear Power Unit Lomonosov has been now stationed in Murmansk in Russia to be loaded with fuel. Once loaded with fuel Lomonosov will be towed to the town of Pevek in Chukotka (Russian Far East) next year (in 2019), Here, upon connection to the grid, it will become the world's so far only operational floating nuclear power plant and the northernmost nuclear installation in the world.

It will replace a coal-fired power plant and an aging nuclear power plant Bilibino, supplying over 50,000 people with electricity and reducing carbon footprint in the Arctic by tens of thousands of tonnes of CO 2 emissions each year.

The floating nuclear power plant "Akademik Lomonosov" is seen being towed to an Atomflot base in Murmansk for nuclear fuel loading, in St. Petersburg, Russia April 28, 2018. (REUTERS)

Its average towing speed is estimated at 3.5-4.5 knots. All necessary construction works to create on-shore infrastructure are underway in Pevek.

The pier, hydraulic engineering structures, and other buildings, crucial for the mooring of the floating unit and operation of an FNPP will be ready to use upon Akademik Lomonosov arrival in Pevek.

En route to Murmansk Lomonosov sailed over 4,000 km and travelled four seas: Baltic, Northern, Norwegian and Barents. In the waters off Norway's west coast, Lomonosov was visited by Norwegian media and environmentalists.

About Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation (ROSATOM)

ROSATOM is the only company in the world to offer integrated clean energy solutions across the nuclear supply chain and beyond, including the design, build and operation of nuclear power stations, uranium mining, conversion and enrichment, the supply of nuclear fuel, decommissioning, spent fuel storage and transportation and safe nuclear waste disposal.

With seventy years' continuous experience, the company is the world leader in high-performance solutions for all kinds of nuclear power plants. It is also working in the segments of wind generation, nuclear medicine, energy storage and other.

Headquartered in Moscow, the company brings together over 300 enterprises and organizations and over 250,000 employees. Globally, the company has the second biggest uranium reserves, has 40 per cent of the world's enrichment market, and is the world's biggest builder of the latest generation nuclear power stations and $133 billion 10-years export order book.

Also read: Indian-American scientist Anita Sengupta is the brain behind Nasa's latest project

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