Baltic Shipyard engineers finished loading fuel into the second of two – the left-side – floating power unit (FPU) reactors. The vessel is currently at anchor in Murmansk. “The next step includes system checks to be followed by integrated cold tests,” says Vitaly Trutnev, Director for Floating Nuclear Power Plants. Units 1 and 2 will then go critical, and all the systems will be tested in operation during the power ascension process.

The FPU has two KLT-40S reactors capable of generating up to 70 MW of electricity and 50 Gcal/h of heat in nominal operating conditions – enough to power communities with up to 100 000 residents. All tests on the FPU are planned to be completed by next March.

The floating nuclear power unit is an unparalleled low-power movable nuclear facility built by Rosatom. Designed to operate in the Chukotka region, the first FPU represents a new class of nuclear facilities built using Russian nuclear marine technology. FPUs will be deployed in Russia’s Far North and Far East to supply power to industrial facilities, ports and offshore oil and gas platforms in remote areas.

At present, Rosatom is working to further improve the existing design and create the second generation of floating power plants that will be smaller than the current version. They will be equipped with two RITM-200M reactors with a capacity of 50 MW each.