Shelf-M, project image
In Russia, work is actively underway to create small Shelf-M type nuclear power plants — according to the chief designer of the project, Denis Kulikov, mass production of these stations will start in 2032.
Each of these installations will be able to produce 10 MW of electrical power and 35 MW of thermal power for 60 years, which will allow them to be flexibly scaled and provide light and heat to the most remote areas of the country. It is expected that the technical project for the reactor plant and the key equipment of Shelf-M will be ready in 2024, by 2026 the program should reach resource tests, and a year later the equipment will begin to be delivered to the "site".
Shelf-M, project image
The first "Shelf-M", on which the entire project will be worked out, is planned to be placed in 2030 at a gold deposit named Sovinoye, located in Yakutia. Elkonsky MMC, which is a subsidiary of the mining division of Rosatom, is developing on it. With a diameter of 8 meters, the Shelf-M has a length of 11 meters, and its weight together with the reactor is about 370 tons, which makes it relatively easy to move it between objects — for example, on a barge. It should be noted here that work is also underway in Russia on more powerful nuclear power plants belonging to a small class. For example, a station based on the RITM-200N reactor, which produces 55 MW — the Kyuchus gold deposit in the same Yakutia was chosen as its location. Construction will begin next year, and in 2030 the station should already be put into operation.
Max Antonov