The Russian nuclear-energy company Rosenergoatom is planning a mobile plant to deliver electricity to hard-to-reach northern territories near the White Sea, the nuclear power plant will be a cheap substitute for coal and oil fuel used to generate the electricity. The plan is to mount two reactors on a football-field-size barge, float it to a port, connect power lines to the mainland, and turn on the reactors. Concept to construct such a project may sound outlandish but the idea comes from Westinghouse Electric Company which was pioneer in the field and worked on it in 1970’s.
This project will provide electricity to 200,000 people. But there is great risk involved as the people have not forgotten the nuclear power plant accident of Chernobyl which held on April 26, 1986 causing Dozens of deaths and hundreds of illnesses. So the project has drawn protest from environmental groups such as Greenpeace and the Norwegian foundation Bellona as they are concerned about the environment and are familiar with the various hazards that could be caused in case the project fails. On one side the plan brings up a boom of electricity for the people but on the other it is a threat to them.
Although Russians may claim that they have learned a lot from U.S. Department of Energy, Sweden and Norway but risk still lies in the fact that a plant designed a decade ago may not harness all the modern safety equipments. I shall hope that this project is safe and turn out to be a big success.
Via: popsci
