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Small Nuclear Power Plants To Dot the Arctic Circle

Posted by Soulskill on from the ubiquitous-radioactive-polar-bears dept.

Vincent West writes with news of a Russian project currently underway to populate the Arctic Circle with 70-megawatt, floating nuclear power plants. Russia has been planning these nuclear plants for quite some time, with construction beginning on the prototype in 2007. It's due to be finished next year, and an agreement was reached in February to build four more. According to the Guardian: "The 70-megawatt plants, each of which would consist of two reactors on board giant steel platforms, would provide power to Gazprom, the oil firm which is also Russia's biggest company. It would allow Gazprom to power drills needed to exploit some of the remotest oil and gas fields in the world in the Barents and Kara seas. The self-propelled vessels would store their own waste and fuel and would need to be serviced only once every 12 to 14 years."

15 of 255 comments (clear)

  1. Only one problem.... by Aklarr · · Score: 4, Funny

    What if killer penguins decided to attack these floating nuke stations and because of that developed mutant powers? :P

    1. Re:Only one problem.... by mangu · · Score: 5, Funny

      What if killer penguins decided to attack these floating nuke stations and because of that developed mutant powers?

      It would be quite a mutation, to allow them to swim 20000km from the Antarctic to the Arctic...

    2. Re:Only one problem.... by Hognoxious · · Score: 4, Funny

      What if they were liberated from a laboratory by some geographically challenged animal-rights activists? It's not as unlikely as you think.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    3. Re:Only one problem.... by Quick+Reply · · Score: 2, Funny

      Forget the penguins, it's the Kangaroos that you should worry about.

    4. Re:Only one problem.... by Main+Gauche · · Score: 4, Funny

      Well that depends. Are they African or European?

    5. Re:Only one problem.... by Anpheus · · Score: 4, Funny

      I haven't yet heard anyone tell me if they were unladen or not.

    6. Re:Only one problem.... by Hes+Nikke · · Score: 4, Funny

      is Major Disaster related to Colonel Panic or General Protection Fault?

      --
      Don't call me back. Give me a call back. Bye. So yeah. But bye our, well, but alright we are on a shirt this chill.
    7. Re:Only one problem.... by janrinok · · Score: 3, Funny

      No, he is the father of Corporal Punishment and Private Land, which is probably where you have heard his name .....

      --
      Have a look at soylentnews.org for a different view
  2. Obligatory by LordAlpha · · Score: 4, Funny

    Imagine a Beowulf cluster of these.

  3. Re:Why? by FlyingSquidStudios · · Score: 4, Funny

    Well duh... they need the oil to mine the uranium for the nuclear reactors.

    --
    http://twitter.com/OLDTELEGRAM
  4. This is a great idea. by Viceroy+Potatohead · · Score: 2, Funny

    I don't care what anyone says, this is a great idea. Hopefully, in the near future, a radioactive snowflake will come dive-bombing from the sky and bite me. I always wanted to be ICEMAN!!!

    That would be cool.

  5. Re:Nuclear submarines by peragrin · · Score: 2, Funny

    yes dual core. It is how they operate their underwater 30MW lasers. On their submarines

    --
    i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
  6. Re:Ranting against "evil Russians" to commence... by dem0n1 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Speaking of Russian, shouldn't "vessels" in TFA be "wessels"?

    --
    Why save your soul when you can sell it for a profit?
  7. Sounds like our ZPM is out of power by Joe+The+Dragon · · Score: 4, Funny

    Sounds like our ZPM is out of power

  8. Need to be serviced only once every 12 to 14 years by Cornwallis · · Score: 2, Funny

    Like when they explode?