Russia of course has the floating power plant anchored off Pevek 800km northwest of the Bering Strait, and in a pinch the nuclear icebreakers can supply a lot of juice. Additionally Kaz Minerals will be installing four modular nukes to power their giant Siberian copper mine, all links after the jump.
From Interesting Engineering, January 4:
As China bids to become the world leader in nuclear power.
China connected its first commercial onshore small modular nuclear reactor to its power grid, making it the first country in the world to draw power from such a machine, a report from Bloomberg reveals.
China Huaneng Group Co.'s 200-megawatt unit 1 reactor at Shidao Bay is connected to the grid in the Shandong province. The company is also developing a second reactor, which is scheduled to go into full operation next year following tests.
The 200-megawatt small modular reactor (SMR) is roughly a fifth of the size of China's first proprietary reactor design, called Hualong One. Its small size allows for greater scalability as well as reduced operations and deployment costs.
The new modular nuclear reactor is the world's first pebble-bed modular high-temperature gas-cooled reactor. Instead of heating up water, it heats helium to produce energy. The machine is designed to quickly shut down if an error occurs.
China will invest $440 billion in nuclear power over the next 15 years
According to Bloomberg, China is the world's largest investor in nuclear power, with estimations suggesting it will pay up to 440 billion dollars towards building new nuclear power plants over the next 15 years, allowing it to overtake the U.S. as the world's top generator of nuclear electricity....
....MUCH MORE
If interested here is the Kaz Minerals story.
Re: the icebreakers, we noted in "As Russia's New Icebreaking Monster Completes Maiden Voyage, The U.S. Contracts For A New Heavy, Scheduled For 2025":
...the Arktika, 2nd of five in its class, is 569 feet long, displaces 33,000 long tons and is powered by two 175 megawatt nuclear reactors delivering 60 megawatts at the propeller.
In December 1929 the U.S. aircraft carrier Lexington pulled up to the dock in Tacoma Washington during a power crisis and kept the city's lights on for a month.
And regarding the floating power station on Russia's Northern Sea Route, from test to installation, April - December 2019:
- "Nuclear reactors on Russia’s floating nuclear plant reach full capacity"
- "Floating nuclear power plant leaves Murmansk for Russia’s eastern Arctic"
- "Russia’s first sea-borne nuclear power plant arrives at its Arctic base"
- Russia's New Floating Nuke Power Plant Begins Delivering Electricity
A year later the Guardian was saying: "Floating 'Mini-Nukes' Could Power Countries by 2025"
And here we are, January 2022.
