Plans for buoyant nuclear plants floated in Russia

A Russian corporation said it started construction in February on a floating nuclear plant that could accommodate two 35-megawatt nuclear reactors.

United Industrial Corporation, abbreviated OPK, said the plant is expected to produce power for the eastern city of Viluchinsk by 2012. The company then plans to build additional floating plants for other northern cities.

But the New York Times reports that the power plants have numerous applications in remote sites and energy-intensive industries. Floating plants could provide power to water desalination facilities, or to the offshore extraction of oil, gas, and minerals in the Arctic.

Disadvantages of such a plant could include vulnerability to terrorism and extreme weather, in addition to contamination of oceans. However, industry leaders speaking at the Cleantech Forum XXI in San Francisco in February forecast a renaissance in the adoption of nuclear power, saying public opinion has turned in its favor (see Nuclear's biggest problem? Not enough scientists).

OPK said it has signed a contract to sell the first plant, dubbed KLT-40C, for €226.8 million ($315.8 million) to nuclear plant operator Concern Energoatom. The plant is to be 144 meters long and 30 meters wide (472 by 98 feet).

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