Akademik Lomonosov | 24 Aug 2019
Akademik Lomonosov, a Russian ship that has floating nuclear units, started its first journey from the Russian port of Murmansk to the arctic town of Pevek despite opposition from environmental groups.
- It the world’s only floating power unit and the world's northernmost nuclear installation.
- Significance of a floating nuclear plant.
- It is suited for powering remote areas and island states that require stable, green sources of energy.
- It will power the extraction of natural resources in the Arctic region.
- The portable nuclear plants will help to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, thus help in mitigating climate change.
- China and the US are also working on sea-based nuclear power plants, and France has explored the possibility.
- However, the environmental group Greenpeace has called the plan "Chernobyl on Ice".
- Chernobyl accident is the 1986 nuclear power plant meltdown in erstwhile USSR, which released large levels of nuclear radiation into the atmosphere, forced thousands to flee their homes and sparked long-term fears of health and environmental repercussions.