Russia has bragged that it new sea-going new nuclear power station is ‘invincible against tsunamis’ after critics branded it a ‘floating Chernobyl’.
Rosatom, the state company which has spent more than a decade building the Akademik Lomonosov, said that comparing their vessel to the Soviet power plant which blew up in 1986 is like ‘comparing a 100-year-old automobile to one today.’
They point to upgraded reactors, a specially designed pier to keep away waves and ice, and the constant presence of national guardsmen as reasons that activists have nothing to fear from the new technology.
Safety improvements and the fact that the reactor will be at sea also makes it ‘invincible from tsunamis and other natural disasters’, the company said.
Russia has sought to allay fears about its new nuclear power station built aboard a boat after critics described it as ‘Russia’s Titanic’ and a ‘floating Chernobyl’ (file)
Rosatom, the state-owned company which developed the vessel, says it is ‘invincible against tsunamis’ and will be guarded by armed troops
The company said that comparing the Akademik Lomonosov’s two nuclear reactors to those used inside Chernobyl would be like ‘comparing a 100-year-old automobile to one today’
In the past, it has bragged that the reactor will be tested ‘up to 110 per cent capacity’ before being brought online, the Daily Telegraph reported.
The Lomonosov was constructed in St Petersburg before being towed to Kola Bay, near Murmansk, in April where it will be fuelled up.
From there, it will be towed to the remote mining region of Pevek where it will be used to power homes and mining operations.
The boat will be equipped with two KLT-40 reactors, which use low-enriched uranium and Rosatom believes can power 100,000 homes.
The same reactors are already being used on board Russia’s nuclear icebreakers, which have so-far operated in the region without issue – another factor that Rosatom points to in its favour.
However, Greenpeace Russia has raised serious concerns about the boat’s safety after managing to sail up to the vessel while it was still in port in St Petersburg.
The Lomonosov was constructed in St Petersburg before being towed to Kola Bay, near Murmansk (picutred), where it is being fuelled ahead of its maiden voyage
The vessel’s maiden voyage will take it through the arctic circle to the Pevek mining region
The enormous power station is intended to bring a more reliable source of energy to a remote Arctic region in Russia
‘If we can boat up to it, then terrorists can boat up to it,’ activist Konstantin Fomin said at the time.
The huge power station was built under President Vladimir Putin’s ambitious Arctic expansion plans, spurred on as global warming thaws arctic ice, which have also riled US observers.
Putin has stated his intention to develop the region economically, tapping into the hidden Arctic riches of oil and gas as Siberian reserves diminish.
Only two million people currently live in the hostile region but they generate as much as 20% of country’s GDP.
Once in place, the Akademik Lomonosov will become the northernmost nuclear power station in the world.
Its installation has drawn criticism from environmentalists, however, who claim it represents a danger to the people who live there.
The Lomonosov platform was dubbed ‘Chernobyl on Ice’ or ‘floating Chernobyl’ by Greenpeace.
Employees in a machinery room during installation and start-up works on the enormous station
The station’s owner Rosatom, the state company in charge of Russia’s nuclear projects, has hit back at criticism.
‘It’s totally not justified to compare these two projects. These are baseless claims, just the way the reactors themselves operate work is different,’ said Vladimir Iriminku, Lomonosov’s chief engineer.
‘Of course, what happened in Chernobyl cannot happen again…. And as it’s going to be stationed in the Arctic waters, it will be cooling down constantly, and there is no lack of cold water.’
The explosion at Chernobyl directly caused around 31 deaths, but millions of people were exposed to dangerous radiation levels.
The final death toll as a result of long-term radiation exposure is much disputed. Although the UN predicted up to 9,000 related cancer deaths back in 2005.
Greenpeace later estimated up to 200,000 fatalities, taking further health problems connected to the disaster into account.