Wednesday, 2 May 2018 ()
Critics are calling a floating nuclear power plant bound for a Russian town in the Arctic circle “Chernobyl on ice.” While there isn’t really enough information to make a specific risk assessment, a floating nuclear reactor in and of itself isn’t necessarily a cause for alarm — nuclear reactors have been powering submarines for over 60 years.The floating power station, called the Akademik Lomonosov, has been under construction since 2009. Russian state-run nuclear power company Rosatom launched it on its first voyage on Saturday. Right now, the Akademik Lomonosov is slowly being towed from St. Petersburg, Russia to the town of Murmansk, where its two nuclear reactors will be fueled up this fall.
The plan is for the barge to leave for...