Consulting

According to the IAEA-PRIS database, Russia has nine reactors under construction, second only to
China. Two of these are “floating reactors” (Akademik Lomonosov-1 and -2), which are nominally
32 MWe each. These were ordered in February 2009 and were expected to be delivered to the
customer at the end of 2012. 740 The latest official start-up date is said to be 6 September 2016, 741
although other reports suggest the vessels will be launched only in 2019. 742 Critics of the project
point out that the risk of accidents on a floating nuclear plant is greatly increased because they
are even more susceptible to the elements, subject to threats of piracy, and if deployed widely will
increase the risks of nuclear material proliferation. 743
Figure 35: Age Distribution of Russian Reactor Fleet
Sources: IAEA-PRIS, MSC, 2015
Construction started at the Baltic-1 unit, a 1109 MW VVER-491 reactor, in February 2012.
However, construction was suspended in June 2013 for a variety of reasons, including recognition
of the limited market for the electricity. Despite no indication that construction will restart in
2015, the project remains “under construction” in IAEA statistics. However, given the ongoing
problems in electricity markets with low market prices and sluggish demand, there is little
incentive for construction to restart.
Commissioning work is said to be continuing at the Beloyarsk-4 fast breeder reactor that was
expected to be completed in 2014. Construction of the 880 MW unit began initially in 1986 but
was subsequently suspended and then restarted in July 2006. Fuel was said to be being loaded
into the reactor in June 2014 744 , and according to Rosatom, Beloyarsk-4 is expected to reach full
power in the second half of 2015 745 . Two VVER-1200 MW units are being built at the Leningrad
nuclear power plant near St. Petersburg, where construction started in 2008 and 2010. At the
740 NEI, “KLT-40S nuclear barge project still afloat”, 9 March 2010.
741 WNN, “Reactors installed on floating plant”, 1 October 2013.
742 U.S.EIA, “Russia”, 12 March 2014, see http://www.eia.gov/countries/cab.cfm?fips=RS, accessed 12 May 2015.
743 NTI, “Floating nuclear reactors could fall prey to terrorist, experts say”, Global Security Newswire,
13 August 2010, see http://www.nti.org/gsn/article/floating-nuclear-reactors-could-fall-prey-to-terroristsexperts-say/,
accessed 12 May 2015.
744 WNN, “Rosatom targets growth”, 3 June 2014.
745 Rosatom, “Russia expects to ramp up to full power unit 4 of Beloyarsk NPP in the second half of 2015”,
3 March 2015, see
http://www.rosatom.ru/en/presscentre/nuclear_industry/faacab004781fc808116f36578d50f5d, accessed
25 June 2015.
Mycle Schneider, Antony Froggatt et al. World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2015 166