Sergey Ivanov: Northern Yakutia needs low-capacity floating NPP

26.10.2007 // ITAR-TASS

First Vice Premier of Russia advocates construction of a low-capacity floating NPP in northern Yakutia

First Vice Premier of Russia Sergey Ivanov says that Rosatom is not planning to build a nuclear power plant in Yakutia, but will build a low-capacity floating NPP in its northern part. “We are not planning to build a nuclear power plant there, there are much cheaper sources of energy, first of all, water power plants,” Ivanov said during the press-conference.

“Rosatom – as you may know, shortly that agency will be reorganized into a state corporation – has developed a project of small floating nuclear power plant. This is exactly what northern Yakutia needs,” Ivanov said.

He reminded the journalists that the first floating NPP was already under construction in Severodvinsk. “But there are smaller plants and northern Yakutia, for example, Tiksi, has promising deposits where it makes no sense to build bigger plants.” “A low-capacity floating nuclear power system is a ship with a reactor: you dock it to the shore, it works for 10–15 years and goes away with nothing but a green field left in its place,” Ivanov said.

This project is very profitable for both the economy and the population. “Today, the cost of one KW in northern Yakutia is 12–14 RUR. If we launch a floating NPP, the tariff will go down and people will start paying less for electricity,” Ivanov said.