Russia has built the first of two floating nuclear power plants intended for installation in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, reported World Nuclear News (WNN). The Chukotka Autonomous Okrug is the easternmost federal subject of Russia, and is the closest point from Russia to the United States, a mere 55 miles distant.
The reactors, identified as RITM-200C, are destined for a copper-mining industrial cluster in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug.
WNN notes: “The RITM-200C is a modification of the RITM-200 reactors in operation on the latest series of nuclear-powered icebreakers. In total, Rosatom’s Machine-Building division is in various stages of producing 14 RITM-200-based reactor units for icebreakers and floating power units.”
Floating nuclear power plants (FNPPs) are transportable, barge-mounted nuclear reactors that can be mass-produced in shipyards and towed to coastal sites. Designed primarily with small modular reactors (SMRs), they provide reliable, clean electricity and heat to remote regions and industrial ports while bypassing lengthy land-based construction constraints.