A Floating Nuclear Power Plant? What could go wrong

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The vessel, called the Akademik Lomonosov, is Moscow’s first floating nuclear power plant, designed to provide energy to hard-to-reach coastlines such as Russia’s subarctic regions.

When fully fueled, the power plant, currently scheduled to enter service in 2019, will reportedly operate two nuclear reactors. Its mobility is advantageous for Russia in its efforts to power northern port towns, especially near large energy deposits in the Arctic. If it completes testing, Russia's nuclear agency Rosatom will deploy Akademik Lomonosov to its Siberian coastline.

Russia initially intended to fill the floating plant with nuclear fuel and test it near its St. Petersburg shipyard, in waters shared with Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Sweden, according to Greenpeace. After an outcry from locals and foreign governments, the plant is traveling without nuclear fuel onboard. It is moving through and around busy Baltic Sea waters before being tested in a more secluded area.

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