{"id":16305,"date":"2018-05-03T10:58:00","date_gmt":"2018-05-03T10:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/?p=16305"},"modified":"2022-03-07T11:05:15","modified_gmt":"2022-03-07T10:05:15","slug":"greenpeace-escort-protests-worlds-first-purpose-built-floating-nuclear-power-plant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/press-release\/16305\/greenpeace-escort-protests-worlds-first-purpose-built-floating-nuclear-power-plant\/","title":{"rendered":"Greenpeace escort protests world\u2019s first purpose-built floating nuclear power plant"},"content":{"rendered":"

Amsterdam, Netherlands – As the \u2018Akademik Lomonosov\u2019, a floating nuclear power plant built in St. Petersburg, today entered Danish waters on its journey to Murmansk, it was met by Greenpeace activists forming a peaceful escort, and demanding stricter regulatory measures. [1]<\/span><\/p>\n

Speaking from aboard the Beluga II<\/em>, a Greenpeace ship sailing alongside the Russian nuclear plant, Jan Haverkamp, a nuclear expert for Greenpeace Central and Eastern Europe, said:<\/span><\/p>\n

“This power plant basically moves the threat of a nuclear catastrophe into fragile Arctic waters. With its flat-bottomed hull and lack of self-propulsion it\u2019s like balancing a nuclear power plant on a wooden palette and setting it adrift in some of the world\u2019s roughest waters.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Russian-built nuclear icebreakers and submarines have an incident-ridden history, which, according to Jan Haverkamp, should cause alarm among nuclear regulators. <\/span><\/p>\n

“We are urging the international community to demand from Russia a full and independent assessment and oversight of the transport, testing and operation of this floating nuclear power plant, especially considering Rosatom\u2019s ambitions of mass producing these sci-fi fantasy floating disasters,\u201d said Haverkamp.<\/span><\/p>\n

The reactors on the 144 metres long \u2018Akademik Lomonosov\u2019 are smaller than conventional land-based nuclear plants. They will need refuelling every two to three years and nuclear waste will be stored onboard until returned after 12 years of operation. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe international community, especially Germany and the Nordic countries should recognise the threat that the \u2018Akademik Lomonosov\u2019 and any future floating nuclear power plants represent to the spirit and intent of the ban on dumping radioactive wastes in oceans that was agreed a quarter of a century ago,\u201d said Jan Haverkamp, pointing to the London Convention of 1972. <\/span>[2]<\/span><\/p>\n

Due to pressure from the public in St.Petersburg and from the Nordic and Baltic countries, the Akademik Lomonosov was not loaded with uranium and tested in St. Petersburg. This will be done in Murmansk later this year. Next year it is planned to be towed 5,000 km through the Northern Sea Route and put to use near Pevek, in the Chukotka Region.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>According to Russian media [3], <\/span>15 countries, including China, Algeria, Indonesia, Malaysia and Argentina, have shown an interest in hiring these plant that – among other purposes – are intended to provide power for exploration of fossil fuels. <\/span><\/p>\n

ENDS<\/span><\/p>\n

Notes:<\/b><\/p>\n

[1] Greenpeace is demanding:<\/span><\/p>\n